Living in The Shadows
by Evernending Stories
Summary: Johnathan wasn't the only Black sibling who spent his life unnoticed by the world. Natalie Black might not have been a secret twin, but she was almost as unknown as her brother. (Note: the first chapter is kind of dry because it's more of an introduction to Natalie's character. Feel free to skip it and read Chapter 2!)
1. Early Life

Nataliya's earliest memories were of Mamochka (Mommy) going away, and strangers taking her to a bleak place full of other children; some were her age, some were a little older. She didn't like it there. It was sad, and the grownups weren't very nice. She wanted Mamochka. Nataliya cried and cried for her, but she never came back. Then one day, a stern-looking man came to see her. He told her he was her father, her otets.

He was a little scary, but he took her home with him and she met two boys who were much older than her that looked exactly the same. They were twin brothers; they were _her_ brothers, her brat'ya, Otets said. She'd never had any siblings before. It had always been her and Mamochka. Suddenly she had a whole family- **almost** a whole family. Otets finally told her that Mamochka was dead, and _that_ was why she'd been taken to the awful place full of other sad children (she was barely three, then, so she didn't really understand what death was; only that it meant Mamochka wasn't coming back). Her brat'ya didn't have a mama, either, so it was just the three of them with Otets.

Otets- **Daddy,** insisted that Nataliya speak English from then on. His Russian was conversational at best, and he couldn't be bothered to learn more. It was easy enough for Nataliya (now called Natalie) to make the switch since she was so young. The boys talked to her all the time, and she was a bright girl, so she picked up English quickly. Daddy was distant, but Cameron and Johnathan doted on her. They both seemed to enjoy having a little shadow and an audience who was always in awe of everything they did.

Natalie had to stay inside a lot when she first came to live with her new family. She couldn't understand why she wasn't supposed to talk about Johnny in public, or why Johnny sometimes pretended to be Cam. It wasn't until she was five and well trained in calling Johnny "Cameron" whenever they were around other people that she was allowed to go out with them. She still didn't understand why she had to call him Cameron in front of other people, but she did it anyway, and that was all Daddy cared about.

Daddy tried to teach her magic when she was a little older, but she wasn't very good. He yelled at her a lot when she messed up the tricks and he often reduced her to tears. He soon stopped trying and ended up ignoring her majority of the time. It hurt, but she still had her brothers. Cam and Johnny taught her simple tricks in their down time and they were _much_ better teachers than Daddy. It turned out Natalie was pretty good at sleight-of-hand and picking pockets. She could even count cards, which the brothers took full advantage of when playing poker with stage hands after shows. She was young and sweet and innocent and no one ever suspected her of helping her big brothers cheat them out of their money. They always assumed the brothers were hiding cards (which they were, but no on could prove anything). Natalie always got nervous when trying to perform even the most basic tricks, though, so she was never with her father and brothers. That was fine by her, because she hated being in the spotlight.

She didn't understand why Cameron enjoyed it so much.

Natalie spent a lot of time watching the shows from backstage, which meant she spent a lot of time with Johnathan when he wasn't getting ready to go on as Cameron for the "Disappearing Boy" act. They got close over the years; he was the Disappearing Boy and she was the Invisible Girl. No one ever seemed to remember that Sebastian Black had a daughter. She was never mentioned in any of the interviews. Like Johnathan, few people knew she existed. Sometimes it hurt, because it felt like she wasn't as important to her father as his magic act, his legacy. . . Most of the time, Natalie didn't really mind, though. Most people weren't in newspapers or internet articles or recognized on the streets. The only reason she noticed her own obscurity (even as a child) was because her father and brother were _so well-known_.

The boys left to start their own magic act when she was still young. She cried a lot when they told her they were leaving, but they promised to check in often and told her to call them any time if she needed them. Natalie called her brothers more than once to tell them that Daddy was asleep and "smelled funny" (he drank a lot after they left) and that there was little food in the house. After the third or fourth call, Johnathan showed up to pick up her up. He explained it to their father simply: Natalie was coming with him, and she'd live with him and Cameron. If Sebastian tried to fight him on it, he would ruin his reputation. Their father didn't put up much of a fight for her in the end. He had never really cared much for her company anyway.

After that, Natalie was raised by her brothers. Though, really. . . she'd always been raised by her brothers. It was just official, now. Their father died shortly after and Cameron became her legal guardian.

Natalie lived with Cam and Johnny in the Archive with their team. She loved Dina immediately (she was the mother figure she'd craved for years), she thought Jordan was funny (he was like another big brother) and Gunter. . . It took Natalie a while to warm up to the grumpy older man, but once she did, he oddly became her favorite. She even called him "Uncle" Gunter. The hardened man pretended to be annoyed by it, but everyone saw how much he loved it. Theirs was a quirky little family, but none of them would change it for the world.

Unfortunately, that wasn't their decision to make.

* * *

 _Ta-daaaa! I know OC siblings are kind of cliche/overdone/etc, but I really loved this idea of there being another sibling and it wouldn't get out of my head. This chapter is literally just to explain the character of Natalie Black and her early life before the show starts. The following chapters will Natalie's perspective throughout the series. I'll try not to change too much, since I love the show to bits. Hope y'all enjoy this as much as you enjoy Tapping!_


	2. The Last Normal Day

"Wishing you'd gone to Vegas with Cam and the team?" Johnathan asked when he found Natalie sitting in an armchair, staring pensively out the window.

"I'm not actually old enough to do any of things that make Vegas worth going to- Unless I want to go see Donnie and Marie," she replied and turned to face her brother with a smirk.

"I don't think they're _in_ Vegas right now, actually," Johnathan quipped back. He walked over and sat on the arm of her chair and looked down at her. "Seriously, though, do you regret not going? 'Cause there's still time to put you on a plane. You'd have a couple of hours before the show starts when you land." It was still morning in New York, which meant it was _early morning_ in Nevada.

Natalie shook her head. "And miss watching the crowd in Time Square lose their minds when you 'magically' pop out of the screen?" She used airquotes around the word magically and grinned. "Not a chance." She stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?" She dropped her arms to cross them over her chest and smirked. "Is this about a _girl_ , Johnny? 'Cause you know I can hide in my room with some noise-cancelling headphones if you wanna-"

"Whoa!" Johnathan made a face and waved both of his hands in a gesture for her to stop talking. It wasn't that the subject of sex made him uncomfortable, it was that his **baby sister** talking about sex (to _him_ , of all people) just seemed **wrong.** " _Geez_ , Nat, you've been spending too much time with Jordan."

Natalie shrugged. "Just saying."

"Yeah, well. . . **Don't.** Ever again."

"Fine. But, in exchange for my silence, you should make me breakfast." Natalie was already walking to the kitchen, carefully scratching the back of her head so as not to pull hair out of her loose bun.

"You're almost seventeen. You can make your own breakfast," he replied even as he followed her to the kitchen.

"I _can_ , but I like it better when _you_ make it," she said with a bright smile that reminded John of when she was little. "Pleeaase, Johnny?"

He sighed and, before he said anything, his sister was already drumming her hands on the counter in celebration. "Pancakes okay?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, but I'm not doing everything. You can pull your weight and make the eggs." They'd passed the mornings like this before many times over the years, often with Cameron and the team pitching in. Except for Dina. After what they all referred to ( _dramatically_ , but _playfully_ ) as **The Breakfast Fiasco of 2010** , it was unanimously decided that Dina Clark was not allowed in the kitchen. As the siblings moved around the kitchen grabbing what they needed with a practiced ease, Johnathan kept glancing over at Natalie. "So what were you thinking about, then?" he asked once he had the pan heating up and began making the batter for pancakes.

"When?" she countered innocently.

He pointed with the whisk, dripping a little batter on the counter. "Two minutes ago. You were staring pretty hard out that window."

"Oh. . ." Natalie cracked a few eggs and started beating them together with a fork. "Mama," she finally answered in a soft voice. "I was trying to remember what her voice sounded like. . I just kept hearing Dina's, though," she admitted with quiet embarrassment.

"Oh." Johnathan felt a pang of empathy. His own mother had died when he and Cameron were still young, and he understood the struggle to remember even basic details about her. Most memories had long ago faded. It bothered Cam more than it bothered him (they'd never talked about it, really, but he knew), but he still understood Natalie's struggle. He didn't want his sister to feel guilty though, and from the look on her face, it looked like she was feeling just that. "It makes sense," he offered casually as he stirred the batter, slowly now. "Dina's always kind of mothered all of us, you most of all. . It's _okay_ , you know. You were practically a _baby_ when your mom died. . . It's okay, Nat."

His sister's eyes (blue, like his and Cameron's) filled with tears as she stared ahead of her rather than meet his gaze. "Yeah." Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. She blinked and the tears fell, some of them landing in the bowl with her eggs. Natalie laughed suddenly. "Guess I don't need to put salt in the eggs," she joked weakly as she rubbed the sleeve of her overlarge sweater long her cheeks.

"You should probably still add some," Johnathan said seriously, kindly pretending he didn't notice the tears while he poured some batter onto the frying pan. "Just because _you're_ used to Gunter's bland cooking, doesn't mean the rest of us don't like flavor."

"You can always add seasoning, but you can't take it out," Natalie quoted the curmudgeonly effects designer.

Johnathan groaned. "You've been spending too much time with Gunter."

"I thought I've been spending too much time with **Jordan.** "

"Him too." Johnathan waited to flip the pancake. "You know what? We should take a trip, just the three of us. Go to some small town with no internet, where no one knows _The Amazing_ Cameron Black-" he did jazz hands to accompany his already jesting tone "-and just. . . be a family. What do you say to that?"

"I say that sounds amazing. But you'll never convince _Cammy_ to go somewhere he won't get recognized and stopped for selfies. You know he dies without his ego being constantly stroked," Natalie teased.

That got her big brother to chuckle. "That's true. But as I recall, you've given his ego plenty boosts over the years, I'm sure you'd be able to compensate for the lack of adoring fans, 'cause God knows _I'm_ not gonna do it. And if not. . ." Johnathan shrugged. "Maybe you and I could go somewhere. Cam can lie low for a while, work on a new act or something, and **we** can go have some fun. And we won't even have to make up a reason to sign you out of school."

"One of the many beauties of homeschool," Natalie agreed. "Let's do it, Cameron or no Cameron."

"Great." He grabbed a spatula to flip the pancake over, but Natalie grabbed his arm. "What?"

". . Do the thing."

"'The thing'? What thing? . . Are you seriously still amazed by that?"

Nat nodded. "And I will be until I figure out how to do it myself without dumping an uncooked pancake on the floor."

Johnathan smiled and shook his head. "Okay, fine." He gripped the pan's handle with one hand and flicked his wrist, sending the pancake up into the air, landing on the pan, raw side down. He glanced over to see a delighted grin on his sister's face and couldn't help laughing at her. "You're too easily impressed, Nattie."

She shrugged, unoffended by his laughter and the teasing criticism. "Simple pleasures, Johnny. Simple pleasures."

* * *

 _This is obviously the morning before the big show in the pilot. Next chapter will be Johnathan actually getting arrested, and what follows immediately after._


	3. When It All Changed

Natalie was peacefully sleeping when she was rudely woken up by her phone ringing. One eye cracked open reluctantly so she could see who was cruel enough to wake her at. . . 3 AM.

"Dammit, Cam, this'd better be important," she grumbled as she reached for her phone. " _What?_ " she snapped; she never had been a morning person.

"Nat. Where's John?"

"You woke me up for **this?** " she whined. "He's got a cellphone, Cam, _call it._ " Natalie was ready to hang up then and there, but she heard Cameron yelling for her to wait. "Caaaam, it's 3 AM. I want to go back to sleep. Why didn't you call John, if you need to talk to him so badly?"

"I _did_ call him. I've _been calling_ him for the past hour, and he's not answering. Do you know if he's home?"

Natalie groaned and sat up. She wasn't going back to bed any time soon. "No, I don't. After the show, he met this woman and they left together. . He made sure I got home and told me not to wait up. So, I didn't." She rubbed at her eye with the heel of her hand. "What's going on, Cam?" He was silent. "Cam? . . Cameron. Say something." Just as he started to speak, she heard the door open downstairs. "Hang on." Natalie grudgingly slipped out from beneath her covers and padded over to her door. She opened it and leaned out into the hallway. "Johnny? You home?"

". . Yeah, Nattie, it's me," Johnathan called back. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Because our _psychotic_ brother woke me up, calling to ask where you were. Why weren't you answering your phone?"

"I, uh. . I lost it."

"Is that Johnathan?" Cameron demanded.

Natalie was surprised by the unusually harsh tone in his voice. "Yeah, Cam, it's him." She started walking down the hallway and yawned as she went. "Johnathan, can you come talk to Cameron so he can stop freaking out? I don't know what's going on with him. . but. . . he. ." Natalie's voice seemed to die as she caught sight of Johnathan as she made her way downstairs. "Oh God," she whispered. She was wide awake, now.

"Natalie, what's wrong?" Cameron asked quickly.

"Nat, go back to bed," Johnathan said urgently, desperately.

"Johnny. . What happened?"

"It's not what it looks like-" Johnathan tried to explain.

"Nat, what's going on?" Cameron's voice tone was getting more anxious by the minute. Her mouth moved but no sound came out. "Natalie? . . _Nataliya!_ "

"I- H-He-" He was bruised and cut up and had blood on his hands. He looked like Hell. Natalie practically fell down the last few steps. Johnathan quickly moved toward her and held his hands out to catch her, but Natalie held a hand out. Cameron was still talking to her, trying to get her to give him something he could actually make sense of, but her voice wasn't working anymore.

"Let me explain," Johnathan pleaded.

He never got the chance.

The door was kicked in and several uniformed men came bursting in with their guns raised. "NYPD!"

"Johnathan Black, you're under arrest-"

"What? Johnathan, _what did you do?_ "

"Nothing," Johnathan said quickly. "Natalie, I didn't do it, no matter what they say."

The hand holding her phone dropped to her side and all Cameron could hear from her end was indistinct conversation. There was some yelling, the sound of a struggle, and then Natalie started screaming. The only words he could clearly make out were "No" and "Johnathan". Cameron waited in agonized silence for his sister to put the phone back up to her ear again so he could talk to her. His hand was fisted nervously in his hair.

Natalie must have hit the speaker button accidentally, because suddenly he could hear her clearly. "Get the hell off of me! Let go!"

"Natalie," Cameron called.

"Cam?" Her tone of surprise made him think that she had forgotten he was even on the phone in the midst of all the chaos.

"Still here, Nat."

"Cam, they're taking him. They're taking Johnathan away, and they want to take me, too. Something about CPS-"

"Do what they say, Nat. I know you're scared," he spoke quickly so his sister couldn't argue with him. "But it's going to be okay. I already got Dina and the guys up, we'll be on the next plane home. I don't need two siblings arrested in night." It was a weak attempt at a joke, but he got a nervous chuckle out of Natalie, so he took the win. "I'll come get you as soon as I can, okay?"

Natalie was silent for a moment. "Okay." Then the call ended.

* * *

Whoever was in charge of the situation, whether it was the police or CPS, wouldn't allow Cameron to see her for two days. Different adults in suits kept asking her questions about Johnathan. They asked things like "Has your brother always been violent?" or "Did he ever threaten you?" or "Has Johnathan ever hurt you?" They made it sound like she was some sort of abused kid, protecting her abuser because she was scared. That wasn't the case at all. Johnathan had never once even _threatened_ to lay a hand on her, and the very idea of it was laughable; only Natalie didn't feel much like laughing.

She would try to answer a question, then they'd twist her words around, and then she was having to argue with them because they were getting it all wrong. After a while, she refused to talk to them without a lawyer- or her brother, her _legal guardian_ , who she was pretty sure was required to be present by law because she was still a minor.

Oh, they tried to smooth things over. They tried to tell her she wasn't in trouble and that they just wanted to get the facts. Natalie told them if they were interested in facts, they wouldn't be trying so hard to trick her into saying something damning about her brother, then proceeded to say something _very_ rude in Russian. Luckily for Natalie, none of them spoke Russian.

When Cameron was finally able to get her back, she was exhausted and edgy and didn't know if she wanted to cry or take a nap or eat her weight in pancakes (she was starving). Natalie hugged him tightly around the waist and shifted to his side so they could walk without her having to let go. In fact the only thing that got her to release her rib-bruising hold was necessity, so she could get in the car. The team was waiting for her at home and as soon as she was through the front door she racing toward them calling, "Uncle Gunter," before throwing her arms around him. The normally grumpy man returned her hug tightly.

"Why is British Oscar the Grouch her favorite?" Jordan complained jokingly.

"Because she's got _excellent_ taste," Gunter answered over her head. "Isn't that right, love?"

Natalie nodded as she let Gunter go and looked over at Jordan. "It's okay, Jordan, I love you too. Gunter's just prettier than you." Her joking tone fell flat, but her smile was real when Gunter started laughing.

Jordan rolled his eyes. "Whatever. C'mere, kid." He hugged her loosely and ruffled her hair before letting her go.

Dina immediately stepped in and pulled Natalie into her arms. "Natalie, darling, you look absolutely exhausted. Let's get you in bed, yeah? And after you've had some real sleep in your own bed we'll get some food in you. We can get takeout from wherever you like. How's that sound?"

"That sounds. . ." Natalie yawned widely. "Amazing. Especially the part about getting into bed." She really was exhausted. Dina led her up the stairs to her room, talking softly all the while.

The three men waited for them to get upstairs before speaking. "She gonna be alright, boss?" Jordan asked quietly.

"I. . I don't know, Jordan," Cameron sighed.

"Don't be silly," Gunter said, waving his hand to dismiss the idea that Natalie would be anything but fine. "'Course she will be. Our girl's tough."

"She saw the brother she idolizes get arrested and spent the last two days being told he's a murderer, Gunter," Cameron reminded the older man. He knew Johnathan was Natalie's favorite, so he knew how hard this all was for her. "And apparently they tried to get her to incriminate him."

Gunter shrugged this information off. "Alright. So she's not alright now. She'll be fine, Cam. Just you wait and see."

"I hope you're right, Gunter. . I really do."

"Where you goin', Cam?" Jordan called after the magician's retreating back.

Cam held up his cellphone. "To call Johnny. I promised him I'd let him know when I got Natalie home."

* * *

 _I had originally written out the whole arrest, but it got really long, and I didn't want that to be the main focus of the chapter, especially since we don't actually know when/how Johnathan got arrested (I'm trying to stick as close to canon events of the show as possible while adding in this character)._

 _SO. I'm going to start rewatching Deception and posting stories based on the episodes; some will be fitting Natalie directly into the episodes, some may just reference past events._


	4. The First Deception

The weeks during Johnathan's trial, Cameron and Natalie were constantly swarmed by reporters and paparazzi every time they stepped outside. After being in the spotlight for over twenty years, Cameron was used to dealing with cameras and microphones being shoved in his face; Natalie wasn't. She didn't know how to handle being the center of attention and froze whenever the media vultures came at her, either covering her face with her arms or hiding behind Cameron. Gunter had to start coming with them to the courthouse to fight them off because Natalie was determined to support her brother.

At home, Cameron had Jordan make sure she couldn't see anything about the trial on social media and essentially all news stations were banned. Not that they needed to watch the news to follow the case, anyway, when they were right in the middle of it.

He begged them not to, because he knew how nervous she got when people were staring at her, but Johnathan's lawyers put Natalie on the stand as a character witness. She was shaking practically the entire time, but she smiled and looked at the jury occasionally as the talked about what a great older brother Johnathan was, ending with how even though he ditched her that night for some girl he'd just met, he made sure she got home first. It all seemed to go well until cross-examination.

Natalie turned pale when they showed her the pictures of the dead woman Johnathan had supposedly killed, and any confidence she'd managed to build up while addressing the courtroom was shattered. They ruthlessly questioned her while she was thrown off. The prosecution suggested that Natalie was only corroborating Johnathan's story about a woman with two different colored eyes because that's what he'd told her, reminding the jury that Natalie had admitted to only seeing the woman up close for a couple of minutes. They cited her interview with the police and CPS where she'd said that, yes, Johnathan was "always a little angry" because their father had hidden him from the world his whole life. At that point it seemed like everyone was talking at once.

"So, doesn't it make sense that someone who, as his own sister says, 'is always a little angry' snapped finally-"

"No," Natalie blurted out. "That's _not_ what I meant-! That's not even- That got taken out of context!"

"Objection! Your Honor, that interview took place with the witness, who is a minor, who had no legal guardian or other adult representative, which is a clear violation-"

The judge slammed his gavel down on his podium. "Order!"

Natalie was allowed to leave the stand and she looked at Johnathan with tears in her eyes as she walked back to her seat. "Johnny, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

He shook his head. "It's okay, Nat, don't worry. It'll be fine." But it only went downhill from there.

* * *

A year later, Cameron was in a visitation room at the prison where Johnny was serving out his sentence, asking for his help on an illusion for a case with the FBI. Because he was working with the FBI, now.

Johnathan scribbled a few things down. "This'll help you with your swap. Show this to Gunter."

Cameron looked at what Johnathan had written on the sticky note and nodded. "So. . Are you gonna ask about her?"

Johnathan became very interested in the map Cameron had laid out on the table. "Who?"

"Oh, I don't know, Johnny. _Maybe_ the little sister who worships you? Ya know, the one you told me not to bring to see you?"

". . . Is something wrong?" Johnathan asked softly.

"You mean besides the fact that she **still** barely leaves home? or that she spends most of her time _in her room_ on her computer?" Cameron's tone was pointed as was the look he gave his twin.

"She sounds fine when I call her," he argued.

"Yeah, well, Nat's a great actress when she wants to be."

Johnathan shifted uncomfortably. "Have you tried having her talk to someone?"

Cameron scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No, John, I _never thought_ of taking our depressed, recluse of a little sister to see a therapist," he replied sarcastically. "I _tried_ , man, she won't talk to anyone." That wasn't entirely true. Natalie would talk to them, she just wouldn't talk about Johnathan, or the night he was arrested, or the fact that she partly blamed herself for Johnathan's conviction. "She needs you. . . Johnny. You can't keep avoiding seeing her."

"You think I _want_ to?" Johnathan snapped. "You think I like any of this, Cam?"

"I know you don't want her to see you like this, in here, but Johnny, I'm telling you- She _needs_ to see you."

Johnathan shook his head. "No. The occasional phone call is one thing, but having her come here and see me-"

"She thinks it's her fault," Cameron said bluntly. "She thinks you blame her, for what she said last year, and _that's_ why you don't want to see her."

"What? That's ridiculous."

"Oh, _I_ know that, but **you** try explaining that to a seventeen year old with abandonment issues. You gotta talk to her. Not over the phone. Face to face. You need to look her in the eye and talk to her. You're the only one she'll listen to."

* * *

No one had expected Natalie to come down for the 'wrap party' after they closed the case. That would involve putting on "real clothes" and talking to a bunch of strangers, neither of which were things she'd been willing to do in a long time. So when Natalie came appeared at the bottom of the stairs wearing a sweater and jeans, and even shoes, Cameron was stunned to say the least. He walked over to his sister and watched from the edge of the group with her as Dina, Jordan and Gunter explained how they'd fooled Felix Ruiz. Though he was watching his sister more closely than his team.

Natalie laughed quietly when Agent Alvarez complained about them "ruining magic".

"This is. . nice," she spoke softly.

Cameron smiled brightly down at her. "Yeah. Yeah, it is. Glad you decided to join."

She blushed and glanced up at him before returning her attention to the little party. "I heard people, music. . I just wanted to see what was going on."

Before he could say anything else, Agent Alvarez found his way over to them. "Cameron. Who's this young lady?"

"This is my baby sister, Natalie," Cameron introduced. He wrapped his arm around his sister and pulled her into his side. "Only slightly more well known than Johnathan. She likes to keep to herself, generally, but has decided to grace us all with her presence tonight," he said teasingly.

"Cameron," she muttered, and he knew he'd embarrassed her.

The FBI agent didn't seem to notice (or pretended not to) and stuck his hand out. "Mike Alvarez. It's nice to meet you, Natalie."

Natalie shook his hand a couple of times before pulling her hand back and crossing her arms. "You too, Mike." Cameron was stunned when his little sister took it upon herself to continue the conversation. "So. You're really into magic, huh?"

Mike grinned. "It's amazing! Your brother's act especially- Well, you know, you've seen him!" he said enthusiastically.

Natalie shrugged. "It's not quite as impressive when you know how all the tricks work," she replied. "Growing up in a family of magicians and illusionists, you don't really get to enjoy it as much."

Mike groaned and pointed an accusing finger at Cameron. "You ruined magic for your own sister? That's cold, man."

Cameron laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, it wasn't just me. Dad and Johnny did plenty to ruin the _magic_ of it for her." Mike shook his head and Cameron took a step back. "I'm gonna head outside before I offend you any more. You good, Nat?" He was surprised once again when his sister nodded. He looked over his shoulder as he walked away and saw Natalie walking around the room with Mike, pointing out certain posters or other decor. He supposed if anyone was going to break her out of her shell, it was the excitable magician enthusiast. It would still be a while before Natalie got back to her old self. . but this was a good start. And it was nice seeing her talk to someone besides him and the team.

* * *

 _The depression thing sort of surprised even me while I was writing this chapter, but it also felt right. Natalie loves and adores both of her brothers, but I feel like Johnathan would be the favorite, because they were both shunted to the side in favor of Cameron. She would've spent more time with him. And as anyone with siblings knows, sometimes you just bond with one sibling better than another. Taking all of this into account, it made sense (to me) that she would take it extremely hard when Johnathan is incarcerated, and harder still when he wouldn't want to see her._

 _Hope you enjoyed this chapter! More to come soon._


	5. Johnny Would Know

_This is for fanwriter1245. You know what? I ALSO wanted to see Natalie throughout that year, so I decided to write this chapter to satisfy both of our needs._

* * *

Cameron paused outside Natalie's room when he heard his own voice. Her door was already ajar and he slowly, gently, pushed it open a little further to see what she was doing.

 _". . . then, there's the other kind, where you trick yourself. We all do it. Today is going to be better than yesterday. . Is it? Or that argument that you had with your friend? It was all their fault. . . Was it? And of course my-my **personal favorite:** I don't need to go to the doctor, I'm **fine.** Go to the damn doctor. You see our minds deceive us every day. They bend reality to make it whatever we **want** it to be, whatever we **need** it to be. Or simply to make it all make sense. . . even when it doesn't."_

His show. The show that Johnathan hadn't wanted to do. The show that Cameron had begged him to do. The show that had put their brother in the path of some evil illusionist and ultimately got him imprisoned. Granted, a lot happened in between the finale of the show and Johnathan being convicted of murder (some of his brother's own choices playing their part in that chain of events), but Cameron knew that he was responsible because a) he talked Johnny into doing the show that led to all of this and b) whoever set him up was actually going after Cameron, anyway. Like Johnathan had pointed out that first night he was arrested: no one even knew he existed.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he, in the video, suddenly swung upside down and the two-minute countdown began. The crowd gasped when the torch fell out of alignment and he saw Natalie tense and look away when the first cable snapped. She happened to turn her head towards him, and her eyes went wide. She quickly reached over to pause the video then looked up again to see Cameron rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. . . I wasn't trying to **spy** on you, or anything, but I heard, well, **me** and. . ." Cameron's voice trailed off and he fell into an awkward silence because he wasn't sure how to finish that sentence. "I, uh, never actually watched it," he said with a gesture to his sister's laptop. "I wasn't sure how it looked."

"I _looked_ like you nearly died," Natalie said sternly. It had been two months since Johnathan was locked up, and she'd been sullen and withdrawn (and, at times, waspish) the entire time.

"But I _didn't_ ," Cameron attempted to cheer her up with a broad grin and his hands held out to his sides, splayed open. Yes. He was resulting to **jazz hands** to try and get even the smallest of smiles out of his sister. Natalie's expression remained cold, though, so he sighed and dropped his hands to his sides. "Is this the first time you've watched it since-?"

"No." Natalie looked away and pulled her folded legs up to her chest, and rested her chin on her knees.

"How many times have you watched it?" Cameron asked curiously as he took a step forward. She wasn't immediately banishing him from her room, which he took as a good sign.

". . . A lot," she sighed as she stared at the screen. The video of his show was frozen with him halfway out of the straightjacket.

Cameron walked into her room slowly, cautiously testing the waters of his sister's mood. He wasn't sure what would set her off lately and had been doing his best to be gentle. "Can I ask why?"

She shrugged, but didn't actually respond.

"Are you hoping to. . see something?" Honestly, he didn't understand why his sister would watch that particular bit of the show. He didn't need to see her turning away from the screen when the trick seemed to be going wrong to know that Natalie hated seeing either of her brothers doing dangerous stunts. He could understand her watching the end, the part where Johnathan appears in a burst of smoke and "Ta-da"s, but this. . . He didn't get it. Johnathan probably would.

"It was the last time," Natalie finally answered in a low voice.

Cameron frowned and sat down on her bed with her laptop between them. "What do you mean?"

"It was the last time everything was normal." The unspoken 'for us' was understood by Cameron, because their family had never been normal by anyone else's standards. "Are you going on another trip?" Natalie dragged her eyes away from her computer screen to his face and she waited for his answer. Cameron had already gone on a few 'trips' in the last two months, following up faint leads about this mysterious disappearing woman that helped set Johnathan up.

"Yeah," Cameron said quietly and nodded. He gave his sister a small, hesitant smile. "You know. . You _could_ come with me. Beauty of homeschool, right? You can do your work anywhere." He was ninety percent sure he already knew what her answer would be, but Cameron had always been an optimist, so he invited her anyway.

"No thanks," Natalie answered predictably. Before this whole Johnathan mess, she would have **jumped** at the chance to go on a trip with one of her brothers. As much as it had affected the twins. . . it had **broken** Natalie. She rubbed at her face and blinked slowly before lying down. "Can you go, Cam?" she asked in a small voice. "I'm tired." That phrase had become all-too-common in his sister's vocabulary, and he hated it. Once again, Cameron felt lost as what to do with her, how to help her, but he was sure were their situations reversed, Johnathan would have known exactly what to do.

Cameron sighed heavily, but nodded. "Yeah. . Sure thing, Nat." He patted her shoulder gently and stood up.

"Shut the door?" she requested as he walked out.

". . .Yeah."

He'd try to talk to Johnathan before getting on the plane. Maybe his brother could give him some much-needed advice.

* * *

Cameron was gone for a little over a week with little more information than he'd had when he left. Even so, he still wanted to see Johnny to let him know that he was at least _trying_. Cam gave himself a couple of days to recover from jetlag before visiting his brother.

He was surprised to find his sister in the kitchen; it was rare these days for her to leave her room before noon.

". . Hey," he greeted with a cautious smile.

"Hey," Natalie deadpanned without stopping her search through the fridge.

"Can I help you find something?" Cameron asked perhaps a little too eagerly.

"I got it." She held up a bottled smoothie and shut the fridge door. She tried to walk past him, but Cameron grabbed her arm in a loose hold to stop her from retreating to her room. Natalie stopped, but her eyes were trained on the bottle in her hands. She ran her thumb along the lid, back and forth. "What?"

"I was gonna go see Johnny today, and I thought you might want to come with."

Natalie glanced at him, then out the window, and Cameron had a pretty good idea what she was thinking of.

"No one's camping outside with a camera anymore, Nat. People are finally moving on to more recent bits of gossip." For a long time, that had been her excuse to stayed holed up inside. She'd need a new one now. He felt a surge of hope when he saw the consideration in Natalie's eyes. "You know you want to see him. . and I'm sure he'd love to see you." Natalie opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she was going to say was silenced by his cellphone ringing. "One sec- Hello?" Cameron didn't even look at the caller ID before answering.

"Cam, it's me."

Cameron beamed, thinking this was a sure sign that bringing Natalie along for a visit was a great idea. "Well, speak of the devil. Hey, Johnny." There was a spark of enthusiasm in Nat's eyes that he hadn't seen in months.

"Talkin' about me, Cam? Let me guess. Someone with questionable morals, but a nice butt, right?" Johnathan asked sarcastically.

"That's no way to talk about our sister," Cameron replied with equal sarcasm. "I was actually just trying to talk her into coming with me to see you." Johnathan was silent. "Johnny? . . John. Did we get cut off?" Cameron pulled his phone away from his ear to check that the call was still connected.

"No, I'm here," Johnathan said finally. Cameron put the phone back and was about to ask why his twin was being weird when Johnathan spoke again. "Today?"

"I- Yeah, why, is that-?"

"You can't bring her, Cam."

Cameron was briefly stunned into silence. When he found his voice, it came out a little too forcefully. " **What?** " Nat looked startled and he smiled apologetically.

"Is he okay?" she asked quietly.

Cameron held up his index finger, silently telling her to hold on. "What're you talking about?" he demanded of Johnathan. There was actually a chance that he could get their sister to leave the house-something that Johnathan knew was a struggle, lately-and he was telling Cameron 'no'?

"Look, I'm fine, but I'm a little- I'd just rather her not see me like this, okay?" Johnathan explained gruffly.

"Like what?" Cameron's voice was low and he turned away from Natalie.

"Like. . a guy that was just in a prison fight," Johnathan answered slowly.

"Were you?"

". . Just don't bring her, okay?"

Cameron looked over his shoulder and his heart seemed to clench painfully when he saw a tentative excitement in his sister's face, slowly being crushed by concern. He turned away again. " _You_ can be the one to explain that to her, then, because _I'm_ not doing it."

Again, Johnathan was quiet for a moment. "Okay. Put her on."

He forced a smile for his sister's sake as he handed her the phone. "Someone wants to talk to you." Her eyes lit up a little when she took the phone.

"Johnny?" There was an actual smile on her face when he answered her and Cameron felt like crying, because he knew she was going to be crushed when Johnathan told her she couldn't see him. Sure enough, not a minute later, her smile faltered, then vanished completely. "Oh. ." She swallowed thickly and nodded. "Okay. . Yeah. . . No, don't be _sorry_ , Johnny, it's- _I get it._ Okay. . . Yeah, talk to you soon. . . You too, Johnny. . Love you, bye." Natalie did an impressive job sounding so casual and understanding, considering her eyes were full of tears. She roughly handed the phone back to Cameron and went quickly to her room.

"I'll see you in fifteen minutes," Cameron said curtly before hanging up. He understood why Johnathan didn't want Natalie to come; he didn't want her to see him differently, and he didn't want her to worry. But Johnathan didn't see how keeping her away like this broke her heart. He walked to his sister's room and knocked on the closed door. "Can I come in, Nattie?" There was silence for a long while, and he nearly walked away when he heard a quiet, muffled, 'yeah'. Cameron opened the door and peaked in. Natalie was curled up on her side with her back to the door. "Johnny explained why you couldn't come?"

"Yeah." It was obvious that she was holding back tears.

"I'm _sure_ it's just a one-time thing. . You can come with me next time."

Natalie forced out a scoff, that sounded much closer to a sob. "Not like I really wanted to go anyway. I'd have to put on _real_ clothes. . ."

"And who wants _that_ hassle?" Cameron teased weakly.

She sniffed loudly. "Exactly."

"Okay. . Well. . . I can get lunch on my way back. I'll text you when I leave and. . we can get whatever you want. How's that sound?"

" _Amazing,_ Cameron," she said unenthusiastically.

"Great, well. . You think about it. . Let me know what sounds good." His only response was a quiet sniffle and he backed away and shut the door to give Natalie some privacy. That was another thing that'd changed; she never used to mind crying in front of people before, but now. . . He added it to the list of things he'd discuss with Johnathan once he got to the prison.

* * *

 _I really enjoyed writing this, and I hope y'all enjoyed reading it! I may do another flashback chapter of some point later in that year we know little about, but the next chapter I have planned will be focused around episode 2!_

 _As always, reviews are appreciated and encouraged. Thanks for reading :)_


	6. The Russian Job

Natalie was waiting on the couch with her laptop resting on her thighs. She looked up when she heard voices; Gunter and Dina talking, Jordan chiming in with something about a projector, to which Gunter angrily replied, "That's cheatin'! It's cuttin' corners! Practical effects are _always_ better, an' I won't tell ya again. . . _bloody heathen._ " She couldn't help smiling as she listened to them bickering, and Dina telling them to go to their corners. When the team actually entered the room, she was surprised to see just the three of them.

"Where's Cam?" There was an edge to her voice, an underlying panic.

Dina seemed to know where her Natalie's thoughts were, because she was quick to answer, "No, darling, Cam's fine. He's working a case with the FBI. Another murder."

"Oh." Her relief was evident and immediate at the explanation. She leaned back and tried to look casual. "So. . Presentation went well, then?" The team looked at each other and mumbled indistinctly. There were a few not-so-subtle nods and jerks of the head, coupled with a few pointed gestures. "Guys," Natalie sighed. "I'm literally looking right at you. Just tell me what happened. How did it go?"

"Well," Dina started.

"It wasn't exactly **bad** ," Gunter said.

" _No_ , not bad at all, really. . Except for a. . **minor** snafu with the smoke machine," Dina continued.

Natalie raised an eyebrow at them and nodded a couple of times. "Uh huh. . Jordan?"

"Yeah, Fly?" Jordan responded, his head immediately popping up from behind Gunter and Dina. Had he been hiding behind them?

"I told you _not_ to call me that anymore," Nat deadpanned. "What aren't they telling me?" Gunter and Dina liked to try to spare her feelings, but Jordan always seemed like he couldn't wait to spill the beans when there was something going on.

Jordan grinned. "And _I told you_ that I've been calling you that since you were nine, and I'm not stopping any time soon. . _Fly_." Natalie pursed her lips and stared him down until his smile wavered. "Look, it really didn't go bad, it just. . didn't exactly go well? Cam followed the FBI to a crime scene to try and change their boss's mind, so-"

"He _followed_ the **FBI?** Is he _trying_ to get himself arrested?"

"Technically, he's trying to get _someone else_ arrested," Jordan answered with a chipper tone. He looked confused when there were three pairs of eyes narrowing in his direction. "What? I was just- She asked- Oh. . You meant that rhetorically."

* * *

Natalie sat at the table next to Gunter while he and Jordan worked on learning how to solve murders from their own angles. Dina came asking about their progress and Natalie couldn't stop herself from slapping her hand to her forehead when Jordan talked about being unable to find Agatha Christie on Twitter. "Bozhe moy," she muttered.

"What?"

No one bothered to explain it to Jordan; instead, Dina questioned Gunter on his progress. When they all realized Gunter had _planned three murders_ , rather than study how to solve them, Natalie couldn't help laughing a little. "Oh, Gunter, _that_ is why you're my favorite." It was _one_ of the reasons, anyway. Her laughter faded but a small smile remained when she noticed all three of them staring at her. ". . What? It's not like he _actually killed_ three people. I wouldn't laugh at **that.** " What she didn't understand, what none of them said, was that it was the first time they'd heard her laugh in a year; they had missed it.

Dina rubbed her shoulder gently. "Nothing, darling. Why don't you help Gunter out?"

"Yeah. Don't want the big buy carving someone up in the name of research," Jordan teased.

Gunter flipped the knife around so it was stabbing at the air in front of Jordan's face, rather than into the tabletop. "I don't **need** research for that, believe me. When I was in the war-"

Jordan groaned, Natalie snickered, "Here we go."

* * *

"I can help, Cam." Natalie had overheard his conversation with the team about the case, and how it involved Russians, and she'd followed him to his room in an attempt to convince her brother that she should come with them.

"No, Nattie, absolutely not," Cameron dismissed immediately.

"But it's the **Russian** mob-"

" _Exactly_. It's the Russian **mob** ," Cameron replied, changing emphasis so his sister understood the issue.

Natalie huffed and crossed her arms. "What if they don't speak in English? _You're_ not the twin who learned Russian, Cam."

"No, but _I'm_ the one who's responsible for keeping you safe, and that means _not_ letting you _anywhere near_ the mob, regardless of what language they speak," he countered as he went through his closet. "Which one?" He grabbed two ties and held them up for his sister who was sitting on his bed with her legs folded. While she considered the options, he continued. "Besides, you're not even old enough to get into a nightclub anyway. You're not eighteen yet, Nat." Even if she _was_ , he _still_ wouldn't let her go with him. Though there was a part of him that wanted to cave, in spite of the danger, purely because this was the first time Natalie had shown interest in going out in months.

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Even if I was, you'd still say no," she muttered. She knew her brothers well. "Neither. It looks better without a tie," she told him. "And undo the buttons like you had it before. You're going to a **nightclub** , not a business meeting."

Cameron hung the ties back up and undid a couple of buttons like his sister suggested; she was right, it did look better that way. "Look. I appreciate you wanting to help, Natalie, but it's just too risky."

"But _you_ , and Gunter _and_ Dina _and_ Jordan can all risk your lives and that's **fine** ," Natalie said in a snarky tone.

" _We're_ all adults, Nat. You're seventeen and you haven't even graduated high school yet." He sighed and walked away from his mirror so he could sit next to her on his bed. "You know it's not your job to help get Johnathan out, right?"

"Why not?" Natalie looked down at her hands, now clasped in her lap. "I got him in there," she said quietly.

"Natalie, no-"

"Even if it wasn't the interview or my testimony in court, I let him go, Cam. . . I let him go with that woman."

"He's a grown man. He made his own choices that got him in that car, Nat, and you're not responsible for any of them."

"But-"

"No!" Cameron hadn't meant to yell, but he couldn't let his sister go on beating herself up like this. "No," he said again in a much softer tone. "There's nothing you could have done differently, and there's nothing you did that got us where we are. You were just a kid. . You're _still_ just a kid. No one blames you for what happened to Johnny. Including Johnny."

"Then. . Why doesn't he want to see me?"

"Because he's an idiot," Cameron teased with crooked smile. When he saw that didn't work, he opted for the serious answer. "Because he's an idiot who loves you more than anything, or anyone, and. . he thinks he's protecting you. He _wants_ to see you, Natalie, he just. . doesn't want you to see him like that."

Natalie shook her head. "Idiot."

* * *

"Wait a minute. . Where Mikhail?" Cameron's question had everyone turning to look at the screens, then at the doorway that lead to the hospital set the Deception team had created.

"Cameron. We have a problem, darling."

Cam and Agent Daniels moved forward while Mike went around back. Gunter pulled Natalie back and held her close, and was ready to pull her out of the room if things got ugly. Nat already felt her chest getting tighter as the Russian mobster held a scalpel to Dina's throat. She couldn't lose anyone else that she loved. She didn't think she could survive it. A second after that thought ran through her mind, Mike knocked Mikhail out and pulled Dina away. Natalie released a shaky breath and leaned against Gunter for a moment while she calmed down.

She was liking that Mike Alvarez more and more.

* * *

Natalie was getting ready for bed when Cameron got back from the FBI office. She caught her brother's reflection in the mirror while she brushed her teeth. He came up behind her and leaned against the doorjam. "It's official. We are working with the FBI."

Her toothbrush was in her mouth, so she merely raised her eyebrow in response.

"I just talked with Kay-Agent Daniels-" It only now occurred to him that he hadn't introduced his sister to the female FBI agent. "The higher-ups agreed to sign the Deception team on as official consultants. . Well, the term they used was 'observers', but ya know. Pretty sure it's the same thing." Cameron walked forward and turned around so he could lean against the bathroom counter while he stood next to Natalie. "This means we've got real help, Nat. We help the FBI solve their cases, and they give us the resources to track down the woman who did this to Johnny."

Natalie held her hair back and bent over to spit out the minty foam. Her expression was cautiously hopeful when she stood up again. "So. . . They're taking it seriously? The mystery woman with the different colored eyes, the framing. . all of it? They believe Johnny's innocent?"

"Yeah, Nat. This is a huge step. We're gonna be able to bring him home."

Nat shook her head. "Don't." She rinsed off her toothbrush and dropped it in its holder by the sink. "Don't say that unless you're sure." She couldn't stand to get her hopes up, not about this.

"Hey. . Look at me." Cameron waited until she met his eyes. "I'm sure. I _promise you,_ we're going to get Johnny out."

* * *

 _There's a reason Jordan calls her Fly, and it will come up in later chapters; not like it's a big secret or anything._

 _To answer WinterRainbow's question, Natalie will **slowly** start getting more involved, if only with the planning of the deceptions. I had originally toyed with the idea of her being part of the team from the jump, but she's Cam's baby sister and I don't think the FBI would approve of using a minor to help with their cases._

 _I adore Cameron's optimism, but it was always painful watching him make promises to Johnathan, only for them to fall apart (through no fault of his own). Now he's making promises he can't keep to TWO siblings._


	7. A Little Loving Deception

"Just do me a favor, guys. Don't tell Nat about this."

"But Cameron, darling, what do we tell her we're working on, then?" Dina asked. It was a fair question; Natalie was bound to walk in at some point and see them working on a bendable mirror, along with a setup for a reflective illusion, and she was bound to be curious. He also knew Dina would hate lying to her.

"Uh. . ." He thought for a moment, thinking of a workable half-truth. "Tell her- Tell her about the museum, the paintings, and that a docent's being held hostage, just- Don't say anything about the bomb, 'kay?" Agent Daniels turned around with a questioning look and Cameron shook his head so she knew he wasn't talking to her. "Dina?"

There was a weary sigh, and he felt a little guilty for putting this on his team (mostly Dina), but he didn't want his sister to worry. "She won't hear anything from us," his manager promised.

The illusionist grinned. "Dina, you're the best."

"I know, darling." Cam could hear the smile in her voice.

* * *

"Further," Gunter said, not even turning around to see who he was speaking to.

Mike looked understandably exasperated when he replied, "I'm already out the door!" He threw his hands up briefly before dropping them down. "How much space do you need?"

"Man's got a process," Jordan chuckled.

"Both of you, be nice," Natalie ordered, though she couldn't help smiling a little as well. She followed Mike out the door when Dina offered to show him around the Archive.

"Sorry about Gunter, he's just. . . I have no idea how to finish that sentence." Dina looked at the FBI agent apologetically.

"Gunter's _Gunter_ ," Natalie supplied. And that was really the only explanation that could be given. He was a grumpy and stubborn man who liked to do things in what he considered 'the proper way', and he wouldn't allow anyone to interfere.

Mike gave them both a good natured smile and waved off the concern. "It's alright. I've actually wanted to look around. I mean, how cool is this place?"

Natalie followed at a distance while she watched the two adults interact with each other, and she wondered how long it would take them to realize they had feelings for one another. She couldn't help chuckling quietly when Dina recounted Johnathan's story about the trunk holding Houdini's ghost; there was a time when she'd believed that. She'd believed just about anything her brothers told her when she was little, _especially_ Johnathan. For a long time, she even believed they could do **actual** magic (that was until Sebastian ruined it all by teaching her how to do some of their more basic tricks and thereby shattering the wonder of it all).

Mike mentioned needing six shots of tequila before being able to talk about his wife, and Natalie thought that was a good time to bow out of the little impromptu home tour. She briefly caught Dina's attention and pointed a thumb over her shoulder, silently indicating that she was going back to watch Gunter work. She had a feeling this conversation wasn't one that should have an audience.

Gunter's cry of success drew Mike and Dina back into the work room. Natalie was about to congratulate him, but her pat on his shoulder turned into a slightly restraining hold when he tried to argue with Mike's "Good job, you guys," trying to explain that he'd really done all of the work while Jordan stood there offering useless commentary on his process.

"Easy, big guy," Natalie soothed as she rubbed Gunter's shoulder. "Priorities." There was, after all, an art thief and attempted murderer to catch.

* * *

Dina, Jordan and Natalie were debating what they should get for dinner while Gunter worked on some welding project (it wasn't that uncommon for him to have projects on the side in between shows, or in this case, consulting jobs), when Dina got a phone call. "Mike," Dina greeted with a friendly tone; a little _too_ friendly for her to be talking to **just** a friend, if anyone asked for Natalie's opinion on the matter. However, Dina's smile quickly faded. "The tracker? Um- One mo- Jordan," she said the tech whiz's name quietly with the phone pulled away from her mouth. "Jordan, pull up Cam's tracker."

"Wait, what?" Natalie had clearly missed something.

Dina gave her a look that said she would explain later. "Mike? Jordan's pulling it up right now. ." Natalie leaned over Jordan's shoulder while he worked on his tablet. "Yes, the tracker's still on, and we've got him. He's on FDR Drive, and he's at 57th- No, 58th. He must be in a car. . Alright. Keep me posted?" Dina hummed then ended the call. At this point, the whole team was huddled together, watching Cameron's tracker moving down the road.

Natalie was trembling slightly. "Dina." Her voice was too calm. "What's going on?"

"Not to worry, Nattie, just. . seems your brother's got himself in a spot of trouble. But Mike and Kay are already on the case."

"The case of _what?_ " Natalie's voice got progressively louder with each word. "Where's Cam?" Well, she had the answer to that question already, if she only looked at Jordan's tablet. "Why are Mike and Agent Daniels looking for him?" she demanded.

"It seems that Cameron's. . ." Dina looked helplessly at her teammates, but Jordan and Gunter didn't have much more information than Natalie at this point, and both of them shrugged helplessly. "He may have been taken by the men working for our art thief- But, _but-!_ " Dina held up her hands as if to hold back the panicked rant that was about to explode out of Nat, if the sudden rising of her chest was any indication. "Like I said. Mike and Kay are already looking, and with the help of the tracker, they know **exactly** where to look." Her hands settled on Natalie's shoulders and she gave them a gentle squeeze. "Take a breath, Nat." After a moment of staring at the woman tensely, Natalie took a deep breath and released it slowly. "There you are. Better?"

Natalie nodded reluctantly. "Still doesn't explain why Cam had a tracker in the first place." She looked at Jordan who was steadily refusing eye contact. "I thought you stopped asking Jordan to chip him whenever he left the house," she said, looking back at Dina.

"I _did_. . Until he had to get through a crawl space in the art gallery, and we needed to know where he was so I could guide him," Dina replied with a touch of defensiveness. "And then we sort of forgot to take it off him after the-" She stopped herself before mentioning the explosion; they'd promised not to tell Natalie about the bombs. "Case. Everything happened so fast, then Cam was rushing off to the hospital to check on a docent who was injured during the heist. . ." She waved her hand in an attempted casual manor. "You know your brother can't resist a good white knight act."

"Yeah, that sounds like Cam." It was clear the teenager still thought something was off, but she expected the explanation. "Guess it's a good thing you didn't take the tracker off of him, though."

* * *

When Agent Daniels and Mike brought him home, Cameron invited them in for a drink; it was becoming their post case tradition, one that he enjoyed a lot. It reminded him of better days, of family dinners after a show, when everyone was together. He was happy to add two members to that little family unit, but neither of them could make up for the one who had been missing for over a year, now.

Cameron was nearly knocked down the stairs when Natalie jumped on him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. He squawked pathetically and was only saved by the amazing Mike Alvarez and his insanely fast reflexes. He wrapped one arm around his sister while he reached back with the other to give Mike an appreciative pat on the arm. "Hello to you, too," Cameron said breathlessly. For someone so willowy, Natalie sure had a strong pair of arms.

Natalie pulled back and hit him in the chest. **Hard.** "You're such an _idiot_ , Cameron!"

He didn't need to ask what she was yelling at him for; he recognized the shrill tone not as anger, but as panic and sisterly concern. "It was fine, Nat. I had it under control," he tried to reassure her.

"Right, sure you did. That's why Mike had to call Dina and ask her to pull up your tracker?"

"Okay, so maybe I didn't have it _completely_ under control, but- Wait, what tracker?" He threw a very confused look over Natalie's shoulder at Jordan. "I thought I told you to stop planting those on me! I'm not a freaking golden retriever, Jordan, I don't need to be chipped!"

"Apparently _you do,_ " Natalie bit back.

Cameron frowned and pointed at his sister, mouth open, lecture about her needing to respect her older brother ready and waiting to spew out, but then. . . His hand dropped to his side and he shook his head. He could imagine how frantic his little sister had been when she heard he was kidnapped. He remembered the first few weeks after Johnny's trial, how she'd begged to sleep in his bed at night, how made him text her frequently when he left the house and called him when he didn't respond quickly enough. Cameron knew Natalie was terrified of losing him, too. So he didn't say anything other than, "I'm sorry I made you worry." Then he pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. He knew he was forgiven for worrying her when she hugged him back and sighed quietly into his chest. They stepped back and smiled sheepishly (and apologetically, on Cameron's part) at each other. "Alright. Enough with the heavy. Let's have some drinks! Except you, Nat. Soda for you- Actually. Scratch that. It's late. You can have some juice." Natalie's response to that was a scoff and a playful shove. She started to walk away when he caught her by the arm. "There's someone I've been meaning to introduce you to. Nat, this is Agent Kay Daniels. Kay, I would like you to meet my little sister, Natalie."

Agent Daniels smiled warmly and extended her hand. "It's very nice to meet you, Natalie."

Nat hesitated a moment before smiling shyly and shaking the hand offered to her. "Yeah. . You too, Agent Daniels."

"Oh, you can call me Kay," the agent offered quickly.

". . Okay." She tried to smile a little wider than ducked away and followed Dina into the kitchen to get glasses for everyone.

Kay raised an eyebrow and looked at Cameron. "She's-"

"Incredibly shy," Cameron finished with a nod. "Especially with new people. Especially this past year." Kay didn't have to ask for the reason. "I'm working on it. . Thing is-" Cameron glanced over his shoulder to make sure his sister wasn't close enough to hear. "Nat always kinda had some social anxiety, but she was usually fine as long as she had me, or. . ."

"Johnathan," Kay finished sympathetically.

Cam nodded. "Johnny always seemed to make it better for her. He was never too big on crowds, either, and he's really not much of a people person." Johnny could talk to anyone fine, and charm the pants off of most people when he wanted to, but he didn't really _like_ people, as a whole. "Me? I've always loved being around people, ever since I was a kid. So. . I'm not exactly sure how to help her, how much to push."

Kay saw Natalie and Mike talking and smiled. "Maybe you don't **need** to push," she told him, pointing with her chin in his sister's direction. "Maybe you just need to let things happen naturally."

"Maybe," Cameron agreed reluctantly. After knowing him for only a couple of weeks, Kay could tell that Cameron Black was a fixer. He liked to get involved and take care of other's problems in a hands-on manner, rather than taking a passive, yet supportive approach. She got the sense that had been _Johnathan's_ role with **both** of his siblings. "Johnny would know," he mumbled, affirming Kay's line of thinking. "He always knew. . ." Cameron shook his head a little and turned with a somewhat forced smile on his face. "Would you like a drink, Kay?"

She nodded. "That would be great."

* * *

 _I write all the episode-based chapters while I watch the episode, and it's always so much fun for me to figure ways to fit Natalie into the story!_

 _I think I'm gonna have Natalie finally visit Johnathan in the next episode/chapter or two. In the meantime, there maybe also be another chapter about the year that was skipped over. Thank you so much to everyone following this story! Stay tuned for more chapters!_


	8. Divine Intervention

_I know it's been a while since I posted anything for 'Tapping', but I haven't currently had any new ideas for that story. Or, rather, the one idea I do have requires watching a particular episode again to refresh my memory on some details. Since I'm rewatching the series anyway for this story, I figured I'd wait until I reach that episode to update. In the mean time, enjoy another installment about Natalie!_

* * *

"Hey, everybody," Cameron greeted when he walked through the door. "I have someone I'd like you to meet. Vivian will be staying with us for a bit while we work on this case. Vivian, this is my team." They stopped what they were doing and looked over. "The surly gentleman on our right is Gunter. Jordan, here, is his lovely assistant-"

"Not cool, boss," Jordan grumbled, but Cameron continued.

"-and our resident tech genius. Then there's the incomparable Dina, who keeps us all in line."

"Or _tries_ to, anyway," Dina added with a fond smile.

"There's. . one more person. . . Where's Nat?" He looked around and saw a supreme lack of little sister.

However, no sooner had he asked than his sister came into the room with some tool in her hand. "Gunter, I couldn't find Georgie- He wasn't where you said he was. I brought you Lucille instead. She should do the job, right?" Natalie held up the screwdriver as she walked over the the table where he'd been working. She casually flipped the tool in her hand so the handle was pointed out towards Gunter.

"That'll do just fine, love," Gunter agreed. It wasn't until she'd handed it over that she noticed yet another new face in the Archive. It was becoming a pattern with Cameron, and Natalie didn't really appreciate him bringing so many outsiders to their home.

"Let me guess," she sighed. " _Another_ FBI agent."

"Actually, no," Cameron said, not missing the tone his sister's voice held. He made a mental note to talk to her about that later. "Vivian is a psychic- supposedly, anyway."

Vivian didn't seem at all offended by Cameron's cynicism about her abilities. She smiled knowingly at Natalie. "You're a believer."

Cameron scoffed, then chuckled and shook his head. "What? No. Natalie knows this kind of stuff isn't real. She grew up with performers. Right, Nat?"

"My brother thinks he knows everything- At least he acts like he does," Natalie said, ignoring Cameron completely, and stepped up to the woman. "What makes you think I'm a believer?" she asked curiously.

"It- It's a **cold read,** " Cameron answered stubbornly. Natalie got the feeling he'd said that a lot today. "You probably had some sort of microexpression when I said 'psychic'."

"There was a change in your energy," Vivian replied, also seeming to ignore Cameron. "Your brother thinks it's all a trick, but you. . You believe, at least a little."

"I like to keep an open mind," Natalie agreed.

Once they got her settled, Vivian offered to do some free readings for the team. Despite their conversation earlier about Natalie being a believer, she wasn't the first one to volunteer. Badly as she wanted answers to some things, she was afraid what those answers might be. So she sat with Jordan and Gunter and watched out of the corner of her eye while Dina got her reading. She didn't weigh in on the debate the two had about the validity of psychics or the foolishness of those who believed in them, though she _did_ agree with Jordan; what was the harm in giving people a little hope?

Natalie was more than a little in awe of Vivian's read on Gunter. She'd known the year he was born, and had heard him briefly mention his father a time or two, but she'd never heard him say his father's name before. When Gunter stalked away, and Jordan laughed, Natalie elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! Geez, Fly, you seriously got to file those things down. They're like little knives!"

Natalie elbowed him again, a little harder this time. "Knock it off calling me 'Fly', or I'll start carrying _actual_ knives," she threatened.

It stunned her when she saw Cameron sitting down across from the 'supposed' psychic, and Natalie couldn't help standing up and getting closer so she could hear what was being said.

"I can give you the exact minute."

"Even better."

"June 5, 1987, 3:16 in the morning."

Natalie's interest was piqued even more when she heard Cameron give the wrong time. That was when Johnny was born. She found herself drawn in by the psychic's words. Talk about inner darkness and how it was pulling him away from people who loved him. . . It was garbage. **Total. Garbage.** Johnathan was _fine_. What did this woman know? She was a total stranger. Natalie was beginning to rethink her stance on psychics, but then- Cameron was worried about him, too? Cameron, the eternal optimist? Who saw the bright side in everything? He was _never_ worried. Vivian glanced over while Cameron stared down at the table, sorting through his own emotions. There was something in the woman's expression that told Natalie she knew her reading had upset her. Before Cameron could notice her standing near, she turned around and walked back to Jordan. She sat down across from him again and rested her forearms on the tabletop.

Jordan glanced up and saw something in her face that made him give her his full attention. "You okay, Nat?"

"Fine," she grumbled. Jordan was about to prod further but her scowl (very reminiscent of Johnathan when he was in a foul mood) put him off from it.

* * *

Natalie nearly facepalmed when Cameron told a federal agent, "We aim to deceive." Did Cam _really_ think this man was the kind that appreciated jokes like that? This wasn't the goodnatured Mike Alvarez that he was used to dealing with.

"Give him a chance," Agent Daniels said.

"Fine. But what's the kid doing here?" the other agent demanded.

"I live here," Natalie deadpanned. Before Natalie could say something disrespectful (which Cam knew she was rearing to do) or the agent could say anything else, Cam jumped in.

"So our minds look for signs. . ." He began his pitch, doing a little basic magic to make his point. When the rabbit's foot appeared in his hand, the man interrupted.

"Are you about to turn that into a horseshoe?"

Cameron laughed nervously. "Wh- Wh- _What?_ No. That'd be ridiculous." She watched Jordan deftly sneak the horseshoe out of Cam's hand and smirked. She stood back and watched it all, arms crossed and rolled her eyes when Jordan gestured at the pair of agents across the table with said horseshoe. Jordan was brilliant, but he could also be a real idiot sometimes. She didn't like where this conversation was going. Her brother was volunteering, _yet again,_ to be involved in a dangerous op, putting his life on the line for people he barely knew. She frowned when the assassin's phone rang, and Cameron answered, agreeing to meet up with the arms dealer. It was a brief conversation, and when he was done, they went back to ironing out the details. Natalie didn't hear any of it, though; all she could think about was her brother getting shot, dying, and leaving her alone.

Would the state let her stay with Dina or Gunter? Jordan wasn't an option, he could barely take care of himself. Would she have to get emancipated to avoid going into foster care? Who would get Johnathan out if Cameron died? The FBI wouldn't let her work with the team on the cases, and without that mutually beneficial relationship, they'd stop helping with Johnathan's case, and then her only chance of seeing him again would be him breaking out, but then he'd be on the run, and- and and and.

Natalie stumbled out of the room as her mind spiraled. Once she was in the hallway, and the door shut behind her, she sat down heavily on the floor and pulled her legs up to her chest as she started gasping for air. She couldn't lose Cameron. She couldn't bury him, all by herself, with Johnathan still in prison. And she knew without Cameron, there would be nothing keeping Johnny from breaking out. If he went on the run. . . At least when he was behind bars, she knew where he was. This was too much, too much.

Her chest was killing her and her head was spinning. She was crying, too, but she didn't realize that until someone was brushing tears away. Funny. She hadn't heard the door open. She opened her eyes to see Cam crouched in front of her, his face full of concern.

"Hey, hey. . It's okay, you're okay, Nattie," he soothed. Natalie shook her head, but couldn't catch her breath to verbally disagree. Cam winced in sympathy. "Bad one?" Nat whimpered and nodded. "Okay. . Okay. C'mere, Nat. C'mere." He sat down and gently pulled her forward so she was cradled against his chest. "I got you. You're okay." Natalie calmed a little after sitting in his arms for a few minutes. When her breathing was a little less ragged, Cam pulled away and cupped her face in his hands. "Hey, can you count with me, Nat? Like you used to with Johnny?" His twin had started doing it years ago, having her count down by a random number to make her focus.

"'Kay," she gasped.

He smiled softly. "Okay. Let's try. . counting down from 400, by. . 17?" Natalie bobbed her head once and he nodded back. "Okay. I'll start. 383. 366. . ." He looked at her pointedly and waited for her to pick up where he left off.

"349. . 3- 332. . . um. . ." Natalie frowned and closed her eyes. This was normally easy for her, but the panic made it hard to think.

"Take your time," Cameron encouraged gently. "There's no rush."

"315. 298. 281. . Um. . Um. .t-two. . sixty. . ?"

"264, Nat," he prodded.

"R-Right. . 264. 247. 230." Her breathing was slowing down, now, and the crinkle between her eyebrows smoothed out. "213. 196." Natalie opened her eyes and Cam nodded.

"Keep going. All the way to the end, remember?" He'd make her go into negatives if he had to.

"179. 162. 145. . ." By the time she reached the end, she was able to breath normally. She was still shaking, and pale, but he knew that was more of an aftereffect of the panic attack.

"What happened, Nat? Talk to me."

"You. . You just can't help risking your life, can you?"

Cam balked a little at the accusation, but recovered quickly. "That's what this is about? Come on, Natalie, you know Kay would never let-"

"No, I don't."

"What?"

"I don't know Kay. I don't know what she will or won't do, or if she'll keep you safe. All I know is that right now, I only have one brother, and he seems hellbent on getting himself hurt or killed for people he barely knows, for a couple of FBI agents who are barely holding up their end of this deal you made."

"That's not fair. Mike and Kay are-"

"I don't _care_ about them, Cam," Natalie snapped. "I care about _you_. And every time you risk your life, I go to worst case scenario, and- . . ." She looked away.

"And?" Cameron wasn't sure he wanted an answer.

"And it's not just _your_ life that you're risking," she finished darkly. She pushed herself up and walked away.

* * *

The team came back after successfully putting away Miller, and Natalie was momentarily horrified to see the blood on Vivian's shirt.

"We had to go with Plan B," Cameron said when he saw the look on her face.

"Oh," she sighed with relief. No one was hurt. Everything was fine.

"Your family is amazing, Natalie," Vivian said, stopping in front of the teenager. "You're very lucky to have them."

Natalie's expression puckered briefly. "My. . ? I-I never said-"

"I know," Vivian interrupted. "But I can feel it. You may only share blood with Cameron and Johnathan, but these people are more than just your brothers' team. . They're your family." She took Natalie's hands in hers and looked her straight in the eye. "Don't ever forget that." Natalie wasn't sure how to react to that, other than staring blankly ahead once Vivian walked away to change.

* * *

Cameron watched his brother wince as he slowly bent over to pick up the coin he'd dropped. "Johnny?"

Johnathan sighed once he'd settled back in his chair. "I told you, Cam. I'm in prison. Things happen."

"How bad is it?"

"It's not," Johnathan replied in a hard, final tone. Cameron knew better than to push.

"So. . Are you up for another visitor, then?"

". . . Why? You got someone hidden up your sleeve?"

Cam smiled. "Not quite." He stood and walked over to the gate door and motioned to the guard. The man in uniform nodded and walked over to the hallway. Johnathan was confused until he saw who the guard was bringing over.

"Cam-"

"I told you you couldn't avoid seeing her forever, Johnny," Cameron said in a low voice when he turned back to face his twin. "And right now, this isn't about you. It's about her. She needs this. So buck up and be a big brother."

Johnathan couldn't respond before the door opened and his little sister was ushered inside. Her eyes where wide and her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her coat. "H-Hi, Johnny," she greeted quietly.

Johnathan swallowed thickly. "Hey Nat."

* * *

 _This may be my favorite chapter to have written so far! 'Divination' was also one of my favorite episodes, so that might have something to do with it._

 _You'll have to wait for the next chapter to actually see how Natalie's first prison visit goes. And I may also start adding some filler chapters of when Natalie was younger to give you a glimpse into her childhood. We'll see._


	9. Sibling Reunion

_"I told you you couldn't avoid seeing her forever, Johnny," Cameron said in a low voice when he turned back to face his twin. "And right now, this isn't about you. It's about her. She needs this. So buck up and be a big brother."_

 _Johnathan couldn't respond before the door opened and his little sister was ushered inside. Her eyes where wide and her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her coat. "H-Hi, Johnny," she greeted quietly._

 _Johnathan swallowed thickly. "Hey Nat."_

* * *

Johnathan watched his sister fidget and shift her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. She didn't move further than a couple of feet from the door. Cam put a hand between her shoulder blades and started gently pushing her forward, but Johnathan caught his eye and shook his head. He knew their little sister; she needed to go at her own pace.

"You know, for all your talk of wanting to see me," he started casually. "You don't seem that excited to see me."

Nat shook her head quickly. "N-No, it's not that, it's. . just. . . I-I wasn't sure. . ." Johnathan was nothing if not patient, and he quietly waited for his sister to organize her thoughts. "You haven't wanted to see me for _over a year,_ " she mumbled.

"Now _that_ -" Johnathan bit back a grunt when he stood up. "Is where you're _wrong_ , Nataliya. I always wanted to see you, but-"

"Cam said you didn't want _me_ to see _you_ in _here_ ," she interrupted softly. She watched him carefully.

"Cam's known to get something right every now and then," Johnathan replied with a small smirk.

"Hey!" Cameron protested.

"Shut up, Cam," his siblings said at once. Johnathan's smile became more genuine and Natalie laughed nervously.

"So. . ?" Johnathan stood a few feet away from her, letting Natalie decide where to go from there.

"So."

He sighed. This obviously wasn't going to be easy; not that he blamed Natalie. "Wanna sit?"

Natalie bobbed her head once. "Sure." She walked over to the table and took Cam's vacated seat. Johnathan met eyes with Cameron through the bars and they shared a look; Johnathan's a little confused and helpless (which was a rare and unpleasant feeling for him) and Cameron's seemingly saying _'You brought this on yourself, dude'._ Johnny frowned at the decided lack of helpfulness of Cam before turning around and reclaiming his seat. He watched Natalie as he got settled in his chair (no position was comfortable, so he resigned himself to the least painful) and saw her pull her hands out of her pockets and rested them, folded, on the table. Johnathan was willing to wait her out until she was ready to talk; it turned out he didn't need to wait long. "You're an idiot."

"Okay?" Johnathan answered uncertainly. He was a little taken back by the hardness in Natalie's tone.

"No, John, it's actually **not** okay," she snapped. She still wasn't looking at him. Her stern gaze was instead focused on her folded hands; her fingers were beginning to turn white from how tightly she was holding on.

"Look, Nattie-"

"No." Bright blue eyes-now looking cold and steely-snapped up to meet his. "No, this is the part where you _shut up_ and **listen**." Johnathan had rarely seen much of their father in his sister aside from the dark hair and a stubborn streak as wide as Russia, but he certainly saw it now. She had the same cold fury burning in her eyes that Sebastian's had often held when the twins failed a trick. "I saw you come home covered in blood. Cops _kicked the door in_ , and arrested you in our home. I watched them drag you away. _I_ got taken away, and for **two days,** they said **awful** things about you. And they said _more_ awful things during the trial." Johnathan nodded mutely. "And after **all of that** , I _still_ wanted to see you," Natalie continued. "So **why?** " Her voice cracked and her bottom lip started quivering, betraying the hurt that was fueling her anger. "Why, after everything, would you not let me come visit you? How could you _possibly_ think _anything_ could change how I see you?"

He'd screwed up, Johnathan could see that now. "Natalie, I-"

"Keeping me away isn't protecting me," she spoke over him. "I know that's what you _think_ you're doing. . Not sure what you're trying to protect me _from_ , but it doesn't really matter. Because you're **not** protecting me, Johnathan. Calling me on the phone once a week, maybe, and not letting me see you for a year didn't protect me from anything. It just broke my heart." When she started crying, she ducked her head down so her hair fell and covered most of her face. "I thought it was my fault," she whimpered.

"I know you did," Johnathan sighed. "But it wasn't." It was finally hitting him just how badly he'd hurt his sister, which had been the last thing he ever wanted to do. "Hey, come on. Look at me, Nat." He slid his hand across the table and tapped the cold metal gently. Natalie's head came up, but she wouldn't meet his eyes as she wiped away the tears on her cheeks; he'd take what he could get. "None of this is your fault. You know that, **now** , right?" If she got anything out of this visit, he needed her to know that much. "Not me going off with the Mystery Woman, not the accident, not me ending up in here. That woman is a psychopath and she was gunning for Cam for who knows how long. . . and I played right into her hands. _I_ did that. And anyway, it's not your job to look out for me. It's _my_ job to look out for **you**."

Natalie rolled her eyes and Johnathan didn't need her to say anything to know how little she thought of that statement. "You always think it's your responsibility to look out for us-" Johnathan knew she meant not just her and Cameron, but their team as well "-but who looks out for you, Johnny?"

He gave her a crooked, somewhat cocky grin. "I look out for myself, Nat."

She nodded exactly twice before pushing away from the table and standing up. She rested her hands on the tabletop and leaned over, her dark hair swinging off her shoulder, causing Johnathan to lean back in his seat a bit. "You looking out for yourself is what got you here," Natalie reminded him coldly. "Let me know how that works out for you." She spun on her heel and started walking away.

"Natalie! Nat, wait," Johnathan called after her.

Natalie spun back around midstep and continued toward the door walking backwards. "Why? You've made it very clear that you don't need me here."

"That's not true-"

"Save it for the sibling you actually let visit you." Before Johnathan could say anything else, there was a loud buzz signaling the lock releasing, and Natalie quickly walked out the door. She blew right past Cam, even as he tried to speak to her.

"I'll meet you at the- . . okay. . ." Johnathan stood and met Cameron at the doorway. "That went better than expected," Cam said with, of all things, a smile. Johnathan could have punched him.

"How so?"

Cam's happy-go-lucky smile turned a little bashful. "She didn't scream at you or start speaking Russian?"

"High standards as always, Cameron," Johnathan said dryly. "She hates me."

"Can you really blame her, Johnny?" That earned him a **look**. "She doesn't _hate_ you. She's upset, and can you blame her? The first time she sees you in over a year is because I brought her along _without telling you_." The last bit got particular emphasis because they both knew if Cameron had asked, Johnathan would have said no. "I'll admit, it wasn't the Hallmark moment I was hoping for, but you know what? I got Natalie to put on pants _and_ leave the house, **and** I got you two in the same room. I'm calling this a win."

"Good for you," Johnathan muttered.

"It'll get better," Cameron said reassuringly. He glanced over his shoulder in the direction their little sister had stormed off. "I, uh, I better-"

Johnathan nodded. "Go. I'll see you next time. . . Cam." His twin stopped and turned around at his call. "It _was_ good to see her. Maybe. . . if she still actually _wants_ to. . you could bring her by again."

Cameron grinned and nodded. "I'm sure that could be arranged."

* * *

 _I am so sorry this took so long! Life happened and I just didn't have a lot of inspiration for the story; nothing sounded right when I tried to write this out. But it's currently 2:40 AM and apparently that is when inspiration hits *flashback to my 13 year old self staying up till 4 AM during the summer to write Young Justice fanfics*_

 _ANYWAY._

 _I will actually be on a trip for a week with my friend (we're going to NYC!) so the next chapter won't happen until I get back. Thanks for your patience, and as always, thank you so much for following me/this story!_


	10. Moving On

_So New York is an absolutely amazing city! After spending a week there, I have a bunch of stuff I want to start incorporating into my Deception fics! Enjoy this little fic based on 'Masking'._

* * *

Jordan and Gunter had been trying to get Cameron to give up his escape attempt for the past few minutes (he'd been upside down for six, now), but he was determined. He wouldn't even listen to Dina. Natalie was about to try to talk him down (literally) when Agent Daniels walked into the room. Natalie tensed when the FBI agent asked about Johnathan. Yes, they had talked to Johnny lately. She'd yelled at him then stormed out of the prison. They fact that Agent Daniels was asking about him, though, made Natalie suspect something had happened, not that Cameron was paying much attention to it; he was too focused on practicing the trick. The fact that he'd been upside down for over six minutes didn't help matters. While Cam was more focused on his escape, Natalie was focused on Agent Daniels.

"So Johnny's in the same room when some guy breaks out and you just automatically assume that he had something to do with it? Sure, why not, it's not like he's a victim or anything," she grumbled. Agent Daniels spared her a look but mainly kept her attention on Cameron as he finally got out of the restraints and let himself down.

"Up top, you guys," he said, out of breath, as he held up a hand.

"Seven minute escape? Up top my ass," was Gunter's charming reply.

The others walked away while Agent Daniels and Cameron talked, but Natalie stayed close by. "Cameron. Did Johnathan say anything to you?"

"Yeah. He said he wasn't involved."

"And you believe him?"

"I know my brother."

"Keep an eye on him. Prison can change people."

Cameron acted as if that was perfectly reasonable, but Natalie felt her blood boiling. 'Keep an eye on him'? Johnathan wasn't a criminal. He was wrongfully imprisoned; funny how Agent Daniels seemed to forget that so easily. Though there wasn't really anything funny at all about the woman who was supposed to be helping to free their brother repeatedly assuming he was up to no good. Natalie really didn't like the woman, and she didn't understand why Cameron and the rest of the team were so enamored with her.

The topic of conversation quickly changed to Bishop, the rather impressive street artist, and Natalie had to put her intense dislike of one Kay Daniels on the back burner. Bishop was far more interesting. It was also nice to be talking about something normal. . Though, again, her mood was soured by the agent's presence. Bishop was _their_ thing, something they shared as a family.

This woman **wasn't** a part of that.

She tried to ignore the agent standing a few feet away in favor of watching Bishop's progress on Jordan's tablet. When he asked about going to watch in person, she leaned around him slightly to catch her big brother's eye. "Can I come, too?" she asked in a small voice.

Cameron met her eyes and grinned. "'Course you can, Nattie. Alright, everybody, let's get going. Family outing!"

* * *

They came home not long after people started noticing the stained glass window was missing; the police didn't spend long talking to any of them about the theft, as it quickly became clear that no one saw anything important. They had all gone their separate ways once they were home. Natalie had gone back up to her room (which had become typical behavior for her over the past year) and only came to find Cameron after she'd taken a shower. She hadn't even gone looking for him to talk about Johnny.

"Cam?"

"Yeah, Nat," Cameron said absently as he sat on his bed with his computer.

"I need help."

"Sure, Nattie, with what?" Though the moment he looked up, he had his answer. Cameron couldn't help laughing. " _Again?_ "

Natalie didn't appreciate his laughter. "Shut up."

Her pout did nothing to stop him. "C'mere, I'll help you." His laptop was closed and set down next to him, then he patted the spot in front of him. "Let's see what we're dealing with." Natalie sat down in front of him with her legs folded and Cameron could see the lime green plastic handle sticking out from under her hair. " _How_ did you even get your brush stuck like that?" he asked, still chuckling.

Natalie reached back to swat his leg. "Just get it out, would you? And stop laughing!"

"Nat, I'm sorry, but it's kinda funny." His tone was not sorry at all.

"It is not," she whined. "And it _hurts_ , so could you just-"

"Okay, okay," Cameron said, shaking his head and smiling at the back of her head. He began gently working her hair free of the brush. "I just don't understand how you managed to get it **this** stuck."

"I'm talented that way," Natalie deadpanned. She hissed when he pulled on a particularly nodded section of hair that refused to come free. "Ouch!"

"Sorry." This time he actually meant it. "Geez, Nattie, this is really stuck in there. Did you even _use_ conditioner? It's not usually this hard to untangle." Cameron and Johnathan had been liberating hairbrushes from her long, thick hair for years. They could undo complicated knots in rope and even chain; managing the knots in their sister's hair had been child's play. At least it normally was.

"I, uh. . I might've forgot," Natalie admitted a moment later.

Cameron huffed, " _Nataliya_." He gathered her wet hair in one hand and tugged lightly as he stood up. "Alright, come on." They walked to the bathroom down the hall and he immediately grabbed her conditioner from the shower. "Sit, you," he ordered with a finger pointed to the counter. His sister hopped up onto the counter and tucked on leg under the other so she could sit facing the mirror while he worked. Cameron squeezed a large dollop of conditioner into one hand, then rubbed his hands together to spread it evenly. "No conditioner _and_ you decided to twirl your hair around your brush like spaghetti on a fork," he chided, to which Natalie rolled her eyes.

There was silence for a few minutes while Cameron got her hair out of the bristles one section at a time before Natalie finally asked, "Is Johnny okay?"

Cameron met her eyes in the mirror. "He's fine, Nat."

"You seemed sort of upset when you got off the phone."

"Johnny's fine," he said again. "He just. . . reminded me how much he's missing." The brush was finally free and Cameron started brushing her hair out rather than hand the brush back to her. Natalie didn't question it, or complain. "Are **you** okay?"

Natalie looked up and saw he was already looking at her in the reflection again. "Do you mean in general? or after my little fit at the prison?" she asked quietly.

"Either one."

"I. . ." Natalie looked down. "I think I've been holding that in for a long time, and now. . ." She shrugged. "It's like there was this _pressure_ , building and building, and now it's just. . gone. I'm- I don't know if I'm **okay** , but I feel _better_ than I have in a while."

Cameron lightly ruffled her damp hair. "Good."

* * *

"Dread Pirate Roberts," Natalie said after Cam's call with Agent Kay ended. That earned her confused stares from everyone. "You know? Like in The Princess Bride? The _real_ Dread Pirate Roberts had been retired for, like, fifteen years, living like a king, while the title was passed down. Maybe the _real_ Bishop retired and got someone to carry on his legacy while he's quietly living out the rest of his life." They thought about that for a moment.

" _Huh_ ," was Jordan's only reply.

"That's actually-" Dina started.

"A pretty cool idea," Cameron cut in. "You might be onto something Nat."

Natalie shrugged and blushed a little. "It's just a theory. I figure it's either _that_ or this kid's just a poser. These cases don't _always_ have to be part of some big conspiracy, do they?"

* * *

The day after Cameron showed him the photo found in Bishop's hideout, a closeup of those eyes that had haunted his dreams for over a year, Natalie came to see him again. He wasn't sure what he expected from his sister, but it certainly wasn't a roll of her eyes, and an exasperated, "Seriously? Both of you?"

Johnathan assumed she was talking about the near-matching bruises on his and Cameron's faces. "At least I have the excuse of being in prison. Cam's just a reckless idiot," he joked cautiously.

Natalie's quiet huff of laughter made him relax just a little. "Yeah, that's true. Can I, um. . ?" She gestured with one hand to the chair across from him.

"Of course you can," Johnathan said quickly. He watched her sit down and noticed she seemed a little happier, despite her reaction to seeing his black eye. Her hair was pulled back this time, so there was nothing for her to hide behind when she ducked her head a bit.

"I'm sorry," they said simultaneously.

Johnathan frowned in confusion. " _You're_ sorry? What the hell for?"

Natalie blushed and tugged on a lock of hair that had slipped over her shoulder. "I wasn't exactly. . . I said some stuff the last time I was here, and it wasn't exactly fair to you. . ."

"You had every right to say it, Nat."

"You _thought_ you were doing the right thing," Natalie defended him. "You were trying to protect me."

"I was, but I went about it the wrong way." Johnathan paused. "Maybe. . . Maybe I was being selfish. You've looked up to me your whole life- Honestly, sometimes you've made me feel like I'm some sort of superhero to you-"

"You _are_ , Johnny," she cut in.

He smiled softly and continued. "My point being. . I didn't want that to change. I wanted you to keep looking at me like that, because. . . I didn't want to lose anything else. I already lost my freedom, Dina-" his peace of mind or any sense of security "-I didn't want to lose that, too. So I kept telling Cam not to bring you down here, so you wouldn't see me as a prisoner. You already said it; you saw me get arrested. I didn't want you to see me in prison, too."

Natalie sighed and reached across the table with an open hand. He took it after only a moment's hesitation and felt something loosen inside of him. He hadn't realized how touch starved he was until Dina came to visit, and now he was painfully aware of it. "Nothing will ever change the way I look at you, Johnny. Nothing. You will always be my big brother who braided my hair, who let me crawl into bed with him or would sit by my bed and read to me when I had a nightmare. You learned Russian for me so I wouldn't forget it when Dad insisted I only speak English. You always know how to calm me down when I have a panic attack, you- you know me better than anyone. You're my best friend, Johnny. . . And then you sort of abandoned me for a year."

It would have hurt less if she'd slapped him. "I know," Johnathan said, more than a little choked up. "And I will never be able to apologize enough for that."

"I don't _want_ you to keep apologizing," she dismissed. "I want you to promise you won't push me away like that again."

Johnathan squeezed Natalie's hand. "Never again. I promise. . . So. While Cameron's been playing detective, what have _you_ been doing the past year?"

* * *

 _I had to end this with Natalie and Johnathan making up, at least a little. It's obviously something that they'll have to work on because Johnny messed up. I'm especially excited to write the next chapter because it'll be interesting to add Natalie's two cents about Cam's old girlfriend (because siblings always have an opinion on who their other siblings date)._


	11. Just A Little Screwed Up

"Jordan, you've gotta make this work."

"Okay, dammit, Dina. I know!"

"Don't snap at me, I'm-"

"I'm working as fast as I can!"

"Work faster," Natalie said as she peered over Jordan's shoulder, pressing chest against his back.

Jordan's fingers continued flying over the keyboard even when he glanced over his shoulder at her. "You're not helping."

"You're not working fast enough," Natalie muttered, though she did back off.

"Do **you** wanna try?" he demanded loudly.

"Stop snapping," Dina demanded. "Just _say_ it."

Gunter walked in and immediately started trying to defuse the situation, which was almost laughable, given that he got into it with everyone plenty. "What's the crisis? What's the FBI want us to do _this_ time?"

"This is serious," Jordan said-as if solving FBI cases were just a hobby of theirs. "It's Lexi."

Gunter nodded and leaned forward. "Yeah, I know, I saw. It's not ideal, Cam's ex-girlfriend being plastered all over a billboard outside his room, but what we gonna do?" There was a collective sigh in the room as Gunter continued. "Paint a big mustache all over her face?" Natalie grinned along with him; she actually wouldn't mind defacing the billboard.

Jordan had done a good job blocking her from all of Cam's social network accounts, but Dina was right. Cameron could still find out about Lexi's robbery from a newspaper. Before they could discuss how to keep him from getting his hands on a physical copy, the man himself walked in.

"Morning guys," Cam greeted. "Just came from prison, so, sorry I'm late." He would have brought Nat along, given her relationship with Johnny was on the mend, but she still wasn't too keen on mornings and he'd thought it better to let her sleep in.

"Cam! Scramble you some eggs?" Gunter subtly gestured for Jordan and Dina to make a move for the newspaper Cam had brought in with him while he was distracted, and it worked beautifully. He didn't notice it was gone until they'd thrown it in the trash, and even then, he didn't seem entirely sure he'd had one with him to begin with. They all were quick to dismiss the idea of it.

Natalie walked over to his end of the island and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and ruffled his hair. "I think you've been working a little too hard, Cammy. How 'bout we get you some coffee to perk you up?" She moved around the counter and caught Cam's confused expression in her periphery. It was _almost_ a relief when Agent Daniels showed up, because it provided a good distraction for Cameron.

But then she had to go and open her big mouth about Lexi Simone, despite the four of them motioning out of Cameron's line of sight for her to _shut. up._

Cameron looked up immediately at the mention of his ex, and they all knew there was no going back. Natalie groaned when Cam volunteered to help out with the case after Agent Daniels **specifically** said it wasn't Deception's type of case. "Well this is going to end horribly," Natalie muttered. No one disagreed with her.

* * *

Natalie had never really cared for her **before** she broke her brother's heart. After the break up, Lexi earned a spot on the teenager's crap list. So she didn't understand why Cameron was so gung-ho about helping the model out. Still. She wasn't exactly surprised when Cam texted her that he was going to be out longer with Agent Daniels to follow a lead on Lexi's case. Cameron was stubborn that way once he'd set his mind to something.

Dina and Natalie were on Jordan the moment he walked through the front door. "How is he?" Natalie demanded at the same time Dina asked, "How bad is it?" Both valid questions, though they were technically asking the same thing.

"Chill. He's handling it all surprisingly well. All he and Kay did was sit at the computer and go through security footage. No meltdowns or tails spins or anything."

Natalie and Dina exchanged an incredulous look before turning back to Jordan. "He's fine?" Natalie asked skeptically.

"He's fine," Jordan said. "Relax, Natalie. Cam's a big boy. He can handle this." Dina scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"If _that_ were true, you wouldn't have blocked Lexi from his social media accounts on his phone _and_ his computer," Natalie pointed out.

* * *

Just friends. Dina kept saying that as they signed in. Mike might not have noticed her nerves, but Natalie certainly did as she added her name under Dina's, adding 'sister' in the box where it asked for relationship to the prisoner.

Natalie felt her heart squeeze painfully in sympathy for Johnathan when the smile fell off his face. He didn't know about Dina's budding romance with Mike any more than Mike knew about her past with Johnathan. She felt bad for both men. Natalie couldn't blame Dina, though, for not wanting to make herself vulnerable with either of them. She wasn't sure that she would do things differently in Dina's position.

"Hi, Johnny," Natalie greeted with a warm smile, hoping to dissolve some of the tension.

"Hey, Nattie." The smile returned, but it wasn't as open as before.

Natalie laughed softly at Mike's small jab at humor, but Dina. . . She'd never seen the producer so nervous before; the woman was generally so calm and together, at least on the outside. Natalie shook her head and stood close by Johnathan while looking at some of his attempts to crack Bishop's code. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Mike still standing by the door. "Oh. Johnny, this is-"

"Mike Alvarez. FBI," Mike jumped in quickly, holding his hand out as he moved toward her brother.

"Johnathan Black. Prisoner." Natalie cringed at how casual her older brother sounded. She didn't want him to be comfortable here. She didn't want him to fit in. Perhaps it was for the best if the alternative was him getting the crap beat out of him every day, but she just wanted to get him the hell out of this place. She wanted to take him home. Natalie was snapped out of her swirling thoughts by Dina asking about what progress Johnathan had made and immediately focused on her brother. The tension was palpable as it built between the three adults and Natalie felt increasingly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, a block cipher's not a bad idea. . . Which is why I already tried it. Got nowhere." When he turned away from Mike and Dina, Natalie caught his eye and mouthed 'Be. Nice.' She liked Mike Alvarez, and not just because he made Dina smile again. Johnathan nodded and continued. "But. Then it dawned on me that a lot of the cryptography being used is similar to stuff being used in Houdini's journal. Which is why I needed that." Johnathan turned around and walked over to the table to pick up the journal. Natalie followed him and sat on the edge of the table.

"A book on Houdini's journal?" Natalie wasn't sure which was more amusing and endearing; Mike's excitement and curiosity or that he didn't realize what the book was.

Though Johnathan was clearly **unamused** as he answered, "No. This _is_ Houdini's journal. Our grandfather built it." Natalie watched her brother pull out the cipher ring and was taken back for a moment to the first time she saw it as a child, and how amazed she'd been by it. She couldn't helped giggling at Mike's reaction. And this time, Johnathan seemed amused as well. "This is a rotor cipher our grandfather built. . _could_ help unlock Bishop's code."

"That's _amazing_. . ." Mike got in close and Natalie waited for Johnathan to move away or push the other man back, but surprisingly, he didn't do either. He allowed this stranger to stand just behind him, leaning over his shoulder. Natalie stared in wonder for a moment until Dina stood and abruptly announced they needed to leave.

Natalie stayed where she was. "Actually, D, I think I'll stay for a while."

Dina turned away from the door just as it opened. "You sure, darling?"

"Yeah. Maybe I can help Johnny out with the code. If you don't mind me hanging out here?" She looked up at her brother with hopeful eyes and was rewarded with a warm, affectionate smile.

"I don't mind, Nat," he replied softly.

She smiled brightly and looked over at Dina. "I'll just take a cab home. I'll call you when I head home so you know, yeah?" Dina seemed hesitant for some reason, but eventually nodded.

"Alright then." She blew Natalie a kiss and waved goodbye to both siblings. "You'd better call me, Natalie. I want to know when you're heading back."

"Yes, _Mum_ ," Natalie called fondly as the door swung shut behind Dina and Mike.

"So," Johnathan started, his eyes focused on the rotor cipher in his hands. "What's the story with those two?" The way he fiddled with the cipher, one would think that Johnathan didn't really care about the answer, that he was just making conversation. Natalie knew better.

"I'm not sure _those two_ even know," Natalie sighed.

* * *

About an hour later, during which they'd spent equal amounts of time working on the code and just talking, a guard came in to let Johnny know he had a phone call. Natalie shot him a curious look as he stood up. "Cam knows I'm with you, doesn't he? Why didn't he just call me?" She was assuming it was Cameron, anyway, because who else would call for Johnathan?

Johnathan shrugged and walked to the door. "Who knows with Cam?" She shrugged back and went back to work on the code. Their phone calls didn't normally last long, but Natalie might as well take the time to try to make some progress. Sure enough, Johnathan was back in the room in under five minutes.

"What was the emergency?" Natalie asked curiously as she looked up from the notepad she was using to try out another variation of the cipher.

Johnathan smiled and shook his head. "No emergency. Not really. Just. . . More an epiphany he felt the need to share." Natalie raised her eyebrow curiously, waiting for him to elaborate. "You know, you're lucky you were still a kid when Dad died. He didn't have the time to screw you up." He shrugged and sat back down, like nothing had happened, and Natalie stared at him with her mouth slightly open, completely speechless.

There really wasn't anything she could say to that.

* * *

Natalie didn't stay much longer after Cam's phone call. She ended up texting Dina, rather than calling her, before getting in the cab and heading home. She was still mulling over what Johnathan said about Sebastian and didn't feel much like having a conversation. She was glad that she'd stayed so long with Johnathan, despite the weird note things had ended on.

She had the cab driver pull over and she rolled the window down. "Cam?"

"Nat. Hey, I, uh. . I was gonna call a cab, but. . ." He frowned and shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. "I thought I'd take a walk. Clear my head." Natalie nodded with understanding. Cameron's eyes narrowed slightly, just for a moment, as if he noticed something in her expression. "You wouldn't wanna join me, would you?"

"I'd love to, actually. If you don't mind the company, that is." She had a few things she needed to discuss with him, and this would be the perfect opportunity. So, they started walking in the drizzle after she'd paid her driver. Natalie sidestepped closer and looped her hand through his arm so she was under the umbrella with him. It wasn't raining too hard, but just enough that, depending on how long they walked around, she'd get soaked easily.

"I heard you spent the evening working on Bishop's code with Johnny. You two geniuses make any progress?" Not that Cameron thought himself an idiot, but his mind just didn't work the same way as Natalie's or Johnathan's.

"Sort of. That's actually something I wanted to talk to you about. I was still at the prison when you called, and Johnny- He said something kinda weird when he got off the phone with you-" She was cut off by Cam's phone ringing. She walked on her toes for a moment so she could see the screen. Speak of the devil.

"Hey man. Time for another therapy session? I got a lot to analyze." Cam's casual attitude was so obviously forced to anyone who knew him, Natalie wondered why he even bothered attempting it with her or Johnathan. "That's great, Johnny. Can we talk about it later? I'm kinda tired." A few people with their phones out got a little too close for comfort with the flash on, pointed right in their eyes. Natalie and Cameron stepped back a bit in an effort to get some space between them and the overly eager fans. More and more people showed up and Natalie nervously edged closer. Dozens of people, all with their phones out. "Johnny, there's something wrong, there's all these people. They're- They're filming me." Filming both of them, it seemed.

"Cam?" Natalie looked up at her brother for reassurance, or at least some indication of what they were going to do next.

"Run. Nattie, run," Cameron said quickly. She grabbed a fistful of his coat so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd. She didn't need to worry about that, though, because Cameron had already wrapped an arm around her shoulder so he could tow her along with him. They escaped the crowd and the cameras in an alleyway and Natalie sighed with relief. The feeling was short lived when an all-too-familiar woman stepped out of the shadows at the other end of the alley.

"Oh God, no," Natalie whispered.

* * *

 _So. I'm not sure about prison rules or visiting hours, but I figure with Johnathan being a sort of FBI consultant, and him having that special room to work on the code and whatever other cases they may bring to him, the rules would probably be a little bent for him in that regard, letting Natalie stay long than is probably normally allowed. That's the theory I ran with here, anyway._

 _I did consider having Natalie find out from someone else that Cameron was kidnapped by M.W. but I thought it would be more interesting this way. We'll see, won't we? As always, thank you so much to everyone who continues reading this story!_


	12. Have To Find Cameron

Johnathan didn't do panic. He was the calm Black sibling. He was the one who always had the answers. He was the one who always figured things out. So it shouldn't have surprised anyone that when he heard his sister's nervous "Cam?" or Cameron telling her to run, that he got a little anxious. It also shouldn't have surprised anyone that he went from concerned to frantic when he heard Natalie scream, and then dead silence.

"Nat? Cam? Cameron! One of you, answer me!" Johnathan yelled into the phone. But of course, they didn't. Because the Blacks didn't have luck like that. So Johnathan went for plan b. When the guards insisted on being unreasonable, Johnathan went for plan c. He stole a phone and made a call, huddled down by a toilet so avoid being spotted. "This is Johnathan Black. I need to speak to Agent Kay Daniels. . Tell her my brother's in trouble." He'd never been so happy to hear anyone's voice as he was to hear Agent Daniels', because he knew she actually had the power to find his siblings. "Look, I don't have a lot of time, so don't ask me any questions, alright? Cam's in trouble. Natalie, too, I think. I don't know-" And that terrified him. "I only know they were together when. . . I cracked M.W's code, I found out what she wanted. She wanted Cam. I tried to call him to warn him, but I think I was too late. I think she got him. And Natalie was with him, and I have no idea what happened to either of them-"

"Johnathan," the agent cut him off in a tone that was gentle yet firm. "Take a breath."

"You gotta find them, Kay," he pleaded. "I need to know that they're okay." _I need to know they're alive._

"I'll find them, I promise," she said confidently. "I'll make sure you're updated as soon as we have any information."

* * *

True to her word, Kay called the prison asking for Johnathan while she and Mike were still at the crime scene. "Well?" Johnathan demanded curtly. She didn't take offense; she'd been the same way when her sister was in trouble, before she died.

"Cam's been taken," Kay said, which she assumed Johnathan already knew. "But she left your sister alive, and relatively unharmed. She was found unconscious in the alley where we think M.W. abducted Cameron. Paramedics think a sedative was involved, though it looked like she got hit in the head pretty good, too. They took her to the hospital, just to check her out, but they said she should be just fine."

She could hear Johnathan exhale shakily and suspected he'd been holding his breath waiting to hear one or both of his siblings were dead. Not that hearing one was kidnapped and the other was unconscious and being taken to the hospital were exactly comforting notions. "Thank you. . Kay. Really."

"There's one more thing." Kay looked at Mike to see if he'd back her up. He nodded once and she smiled gratefully at her partner. "How would you like to get out of there?"

". . . Come again?"

"Nothing's for sure. I still have to get it cleared first, but given the circumstances. . . Do you wanna help us catch M.W. and get your brother back?"

"Hell yeah, I do."

"Then hold tight, Johnathan. I'll call again as soon as I have approval." It wasn't a question of 'if'. Kay knew Johnathan was their best chance of getting Cameron back, and she was not about to take 'no' for an answer.

* * *

"Can we cut all this GPS BS and go find Cameron?"

"You talk _less_ than your brother. Good. Get get 'im."

Kay stepped forward. "Do you wanna see the team first?"

Johnathan nodded and Kay would have sworn she saw a hint of gratitude in his eyes. "Any word on Natalie, yet?" The last Kay had told him, his sister was unconscious, possibly concussed, and being taken to the hospital. Johnathan wasn't sure which sibling he was worried about more at the moment.

"I got a text from Dina," Mike answered from the doorway. Kay saw something-jealousy?-flash in Johnathan's eyes just before he turned around. "She's awake, giving the doctors hell."

"Good for her," Johnathan said with a smirk. "Is she okay, though? How long does she have to stay?"

Mike was tapping away at his phone for a couple of minutes before he had an answer and Kay was stunned by how perfectly still he was. She didn't need Mike to remind her that Johnathan wasn't Cameron; Johnathan himself was reminder enough. "Dina said she's already got the release forms. Seems like they just kept Nat overnight to make sure she was okay. They'll meet us at the Archive." His phone buzzed again and he read the text. "Do you want Dina to tell Nat?" Mike asked.

Johnathan took a moment to think about it, then smiled. "No. No, I think we'll surprise her." The three of them began walking to the elevators and Johnathan matched pace with Mike. "So. . You call my sister Nat?"

"Yeah. She didn't seem to mind. And everyone else calls her that. Well." Mike lowered his voice. "Except Kay." He didn't have the chance to elaborate on that before they reached the elevators. It gave Johnathan something to think about. One FBI agent was close enough to his baby sister to call her Nat, but the other wasn't? Or was it that Kay chose not to? Now that he thought about it, Johnathan couldn't remember Natalie calling her anything other than Agent Daniels. Finding Cameron was obviously his priority, but Johnathan was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery as well.

* * *

Dina rushed into the room but stopped a few feet away from Johnathan. "Welcome home," she greeted softly.

"It's a round trip ticket, so don't get too excited," Johnathan teased. "It's good to be here." He closed the last few feet between them and gave Dina a hug as well. It was the first time he'd been able to do that in over a year, and he didn't know when he'd get a chance again, so Johnathan was taking full advantage of the situation. "Natalie?" he asked as he pulled away.

"Um. . Upstairs, taking a shower. We didn't have much traffic getting back, and she pretty much ran up as soon as we got home, so she shouldn't be too much longer."

"Thanks for taking care of her for us, Dina." Johnathan rubbed her arm affectionately.

Dina smiled shyly, but shook her head. "Of course, Johnny. Don't- Don't thank me, though. She's family." A meaningful look passed between them, the kind that said everything for them that words never could, and everyone else in the room was silently watching them.

After a beat, Kay finally spoke up. "Find anything?" And then they were pulling apart and studying the pictures Jordan and Gunter and laid out on the table. The team reached the theory that M.W. had sacrificed 99 to fool the one: Cameron. All those camera-toting idiots had been nothing more than pawns in her game and used to help her kidnap him. Johnathan had just finished demonstrating the concept to Mike (or trying to, anyway) when Natalie walked in with her long hair still wet from her shower.

"Ca- Cam?" Natalie's eyes were wide with confusion as she stared at Johnathan.

He just smiled and stood up fully. "Not quite. Come on, Nat, don't tell me you've lost your super power."

"Super power?" Mike asked curiously.

"Had it ever since she was little," Johnathan said proudly, though he didn't actually turn to look at Mike. "She's always been able to tell us apart. So tell me. Have you lost your touch?"

Natalie inhaled shakily and shook her head. "Bu- . . y-you can't be, you're- How?"

"We got him out," Kay answered. "It's temporary. Just until we can find Cameron and bring him home."

Natalie nodded slowly and her eyes filled with tears. "But. . F-For now, you're-"

"I'm here, Nat," Johnathan finished. "Are you just gonna stand there, or. . ?" Natalie sobbed and sprinted to him. She practically threw herself into his arms and he caught her easily, holding her tightly to his chest. "It's okay. It's okay, Nat, shhh."

"He's gone," Natalie cried.

"I know. But we're gonna get him back," Johnathan promised. "Do you think you can help us do that?" Natalie nodded and rubbed the tears away with one hand while leaving her other warm wrapped tightly around his waist. "That's my girl," Johnathan praised with a crooked grin and a kiss to the top of her head. "Alright. Take me to the crime scene."

"We already swept the crime scene."

"Well, you missed something."

"I'm coming, too," Natalie said quietly.

Johnathan looked down at her with concern. "You sure you want to?"

"I was there, Johnny. I was _right there_. . ." Her lips trembled and it looked like she was gonna start crying again, but she held it together. "I can help. I'm coming."

* * *

 _Since episodes 7 & 8 are basically one big two parter, I'm gonna be splitting them up a little, jumping around with perspectives. Next chapter is gonna be more from Natalie's POV._


	13. Conflicting Emotions

"Cam?" Natalie looked up at her brother for reassurance, or at least some indication of what they were going to do next.

"Run. Nattie, run," Cameron said quickly. She grabbed a fistful of his coat so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd. She didn't need to worry about that, though, because Cameron had already wrapped an arm around her shoulder so he could tow her along with him. They escaped the crowd and the cameras in an alleyway and Natalie sighed with relief. The feeling was short lived when an all-too-familiar woman stepped out of the shadows at the other end of the alley.

"Oh God, no," Natalie whispered.

"Hello, Cameron," M.W. greeted coyly. Her smile in response to Natalie's glare made Natalie's skin crawl. "Hello again, Natalie. It's been a while."

"Don't talk to her," Cameron said at the same time as Natalie growled, "Go to Hell, **geterokhromiya** **suka.** "

M.W. tsked and shook her head. "That's not very friendly."

"Wait, you can understand h-?" M.W. raised her hand and sprayed Cameron in the face with something and he dropped to the ground.

"Quiet, Cameron. The women are talking."

"Cameron!" Natalie shrieked. She knelt down by her brother's side and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him a bit. "Cam! Wake up!"

The Mystery Woman laughed coldly. "He's perfectly fine, Natalie. He's just taking a little nap. I thought it'd be nice for us to have a little chat, girl to girl."

"And I thought I told you to go to Hell," Natalie snarled. As she stood back up, she noticed two men step up behind the Mystery Woman, who sighed, almost like she was disappointed.

"Take him away."

"What? No! Stay away from him!" Natalie couldn't exactly put up much of a fight. Sebastian and her brothers had taught her how to defend herself, but these men were three times her size, and there were two of them. All it took was one good shove and she went stumbling on the slick ground and smacked her head into the dumpster to her right. " _Why_ are you so obsessed with my brothers?" Natalie demanded. "Why can't you just leave them alone?!"

"Well, I'd tell you, Natalie. . But where would the fun be in that?" M.W. sprayed Natalie in the face with the same sedative that had knocked out Cameron, and the last thing Natalie saw before losing consciousness was M.W. smirking at her.

* * *

Natalie woke up in the hospital a couple of hours later. She hated hospitals. Every memory she had of being in one revolved around her brothers being hurt (and one time _she'd_ been hospitalized, which wasn't a pleasant memory, either). There was an I.V. in her arm that she immediately pulled out. She sat up quickly and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her head felt like it was going to explode when she stood up, and she wound up on the floor with no memory of falling over. Nurses came in and tried to get her back into bed, and it all went downhill from there.

She screamed, she shoved the nurses away, she kicked a few, and she was pretty sure that she bit someone. Then there was a needle shoved into her arm and the world got really hazy. She felt like she was floating. The sedative combined with her own exhaustion had her out again in a short amount of time. Natalie didn't wake up properly until the next morning. She slept fitfully during the night, but Gunter was there each time she opened her eyes to reassure her and get her back to sleep before she could do more than ask where she was. It was Dina she woke up to the in the morning, no doubt relieving Gunter of duty so he could go home and get a bit of sleep himself.

Things went pretty much the same way as before; Natalie pulled her I.V. out and fought with the nurses, but Dina was there this time around and put on her producer voice and settled the whole thing within minutes. The nurses wouldn't put an I.V. back in, but Natalie _did_ have to get back in bed, and _stay there_ , at least for now.

After that, Dina told her everything she knew about Cam's disappearance, which wasn't much, other than Johnny had been the one to call Kay. Police had found Natalie in the alley, an ambulance had been called, and she'd been taken to the hospital when she was unresponsive. Once the doctors checked her over one last time, they agreed that she was fine to go home. The paperwork had been a little tricky since she was still a minor, technically, and both of her brothers were unavailable to sign her out. Thankfully, Dina was listed as an emergency contact and she had bucket of charm for the doctor, and Natalie was able to go home and wash off the terrible events of last night.

* * *

Going back to the scene of Cam's abduction had been harder than she'd thought. It hadn't even been 24 hours, and the memories were still fresh. Though, that was sort of the whole point in her insisting on coming along. She wanted to help, and the best way to do that would be remembering as much as possible about the night before. Natalie told them everything she could about the crowd swarming around her and Cameron, about running into the alley, and M.W. finding them. Johnathan was stone-faced the entire time, and it was only then that she remembered he'd been on the other end of that phone call when it happened. Natalie could only imagine how hard it had been for him to listen helplessly when his siblings needed him.

Mike and Agent Daniels started going over every inch of the alley, but Johnathan turned and walked back onto the street. Natalie followed him. "Your head okay?" He hadn't even looked around to see her behind them. But then, Johnny had always known her better than anyone. He'd probably expected her to follow him.

"It kinda feels like I'm getting a migraine, but I'm okay." If feeling like her head had its own pulse and pain spiking through her skull when she moved too quickly qualified as okay, then sure, she was perfectly fine.

"Uh huh." Johnathan wasn't buying it, and they both knew it. He'd let her solider on, though, knowing that if it got too bad she'd tell him. "You want one?" He asked with a finger pointed at the hot dog stand nearby.

Natalie smiled and waved him off; she wasn't about to chance shaking her head right now. "No thanks, I'm good." Of course Johnathan was buying a hotdog. He'd had nothing but prison food for over a year. She laughed when he moaned happily with his first bite. "Get a room, Johnny."

He chewed a little longer than necessary, clearly savoring the bite, then swallowed. "What happened to enjoying the simple pleasures?" he asked, somewhat indignantly.

"Not that much," she giggled. "Come on. We should get back before Agent Daniels starts freaking out."

* * *

A game. It had all been some stupid game. Natalie couldn't stop thinking about it as they rode over to the FBI building. Oh, Agent Daniels had tried to drop her off at the Archive, but Natalie was not going to let the agent deny her spending time with Johnathan. Not when she could actually _touch_ him, when they didn't have cameras recording their every move and word. Natalie was nearly eighteen, and probably considered a little too old to be holding her big brother's hand while they walked, but Johnathan didn't even question it when she slid her hand into his. He just squeezed it three times and kept walking.

Natalie followed suit when Johnathan sat on the table, as opposed to sitting in one of the many chairs surrounding it, and leaned into his side. Johnathan leaned into her a little, too, and she thought of how touch starved her brother must be after a year in prison where his only physical contact was being manhandled by guards or punched by other inmates. Natalie moved a little closer so their legs were touching as well.

The girl they'd picked up after she took Johnathan's picture began explaining the game and how she'd even known where 'Cameron Black' was. Natalie was only half-listening. The other half of her brain was busy wondering how M.W. had been able to use the mobile game like that. Did she have people working on the inside? Had she charmed someone programmer into adding Cameron into the game? How many connections did this woman have? How many people were working for her? She was like the Blacks own personal Moriarty, which might have been cooler if it didn't mean M.W. actively trying to destroy their lives.

At some point Agent Daniels had downloaded the app, and she was trying to figure out how to use it. When she pointed it at Johnathan and announced he was glowing, her brother smirked.

"Thanks. Exercise, healthy diet. . Prison." Both siblings chuckled a little at the dark humor, and even stick-in-the-mud Agent Daniels smiled a little. Natalie almost considered changing her mind about the agent. Almost.

* * *

Natalie sat back while the team got him ready; she didn't want to be a distraction. As soon as Dina announced that he was ready, though, Natalie came up behind them.

"Careful, or your face is gonna freeze that way," Johnathan teased as he caught her grim expression in the mirror. "Seriously, Nat, lighten up. It's gonna be fine."

"You've said that before," she said seriously. One look at her brother and she knew his mind had gone back to the exact moment she was thinking of, before his trial went to hell.

"Hey." Johnathan stood up and turned to face her. "It's not gonna be like that. I'll be with Kay, who has a gun, and doesn't seem like the kinda girl who has a problem using it." He smiled and waited a beat to see if that alone would be enough to cheer Natalie up. It wasn't. "I'm gonna be okay, Nat. Pr-"

"Don't say it," Natalie begged. "I've heard that word **so many times** over the past year. I'm getting really tired of it."

Johnathan knew she'd heard it _from Cam_ so many times this past year. He nodded. "Okay. I won't say it. . But I really will be okay, Nattie." Natalie bit her lip and nodded, then rushed forward and hugged him tight.

"You'd better be."

* * *

Natalie knocked on the door, even though it was open. Johnathan turned around to see her shyly peaking in and smiled. "Hey, Nat. Come on in." He nodded, motioning her in, while he did up the buttons on his shirt. Natalie sat down on his bed and was reminded of a similar moment she'd had with Cameron just a month before.

"I like your hair better that way."

Johnathan raised an eyebrow and glanced at his reflection in the full length mirror by his closet. "What? Like Cam's?" Because this wasn't exactly how he preferred to style his own hair.

"Not necessarily like Cam's, just. ." Natalie made a face. "I always hated when you slicked your hair back. You look a little like you're part of the Bratva."

"I look like _Russian mobster_ when I slick my hair back?" Johnathan asked, clearly amused.

"A little," Natalie replied. She blushed a little and looked down, feeling embarrassed. "I just meant. . . You look _mean_."

"I **am** mean, Nat." Though few people really knew Johnathan Black, those who did knew that he wasn't a people person. Even when he was pretending to be Cameron, he always had a bit of an edge to him.

Natalie shook her head. "No, you're not."

"You're an exception, obviously. Cam, too, unless he's being an idiot. Then I make an exception to my exception."

Natalie smirked. "You always said that Cam's _always_ an idiot."

"Exactly." Johnathan winked at her and grabbed the tie he'd hung over the top of the mirror. He caught his sister's expression and sighed. He left the tie undone and sat down on the bed next to her. "We're gonna get him back, Nat. You know that, right?"

"No, I know. . It's not that." She wouldn't deny that something was wrong; Johnathan knew her too well for that. "It's just. . . when you do. . ."

"Ah."

"I'm not saying don't find Cam!" Natalie said quickly, and a little too forcefully.

"What? Natalie, I didn't say-"

"He's my brother, of course I want him back. And God knows what M.W. has been doing to him all this time- If he's even still alive-!" Natalie didn't want to follow that line of thinking. "Bu- But you're my brother, too, and once you find him, you'll have to go back and who knows how long you'll be in there, and- and-"

"Hey. Hey! Natalie!" Johnathan raised his voice to be heard over her rambling. " _Breathe_ , Natalie," he said and gently cupped her face in his hands. "You're working yourself up. Take a breath- **Slower** ," he ordered. He waited for Natalie to breathe in and out slowly a few times before saying anything else. "First of all, Cam is alive. The Mystery Woman wouldn't take him just to kill him. She needs him alive. Secondly, no one's questioning whether or not you want him back. And thirdly." Johnathan sighed and tilted her face up a little, making sure she was looking him in the eye. "I've survived in prison for a year. I'll be just fine. Promise." He kissed her forehead then wrapped and arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "I know how hard this had been on you."

Natalie scoffed. "Me? You've been in prison for a year, and you're worried about _me?_ "

"Yeah, I am," Johnathan said seriously. Cameron had told him all about Natalie's depression and increased anxiety the past year, and it worried him, because he wasn't there to help her through it. "It's a big brother thing. I can't help it."

Natalie sighed. "I just want you home."

"I know."

"Both of you. At the same time. No handcuffs or FBI agents or tracking anklets, just- I want us to be together, as a family."

"I know, I know," Johnathan said gently. "I do, too. We've just. . We've gotta make do with what we've got for now."

Dina called his name and he heard the familiar click of her heels as she walked down the hallway. "Johnathan? You ready yet, darling. . ?" She stopped in the doorway and her expression softened when she saw the two of them sitting together like that.

"Almost. Tell Kay I'll be ready in a minute." Dina nodded and backed away, then headed back down the hallway. Johnathan held onto Natalie for another minute or two, then rubbed her back and pulled away. "You okay?"

Natalie shrugged. "I'll get there."

Johnathan stood and held out a hand to her. "Let's go get our brother back."

* * *

 _I literally popped "heterochromia bitch" into Google Translate, and geterokhromiya suka_ _was the Russian translation I got. I felt it was appropriate, considering how much she's screwed with the Black family._


	14. All For Family

_Aaaand now for the Cameron centric chapter!_

* * *

"Where am I? What'd you do to my sister? Why'd you frame my brother for murder? Where are my pants?"

M.W. considered the question for a moment before answering. "One, Madrid. Two, I just knocked her out for a little bit. Three. . Well, that's complicated. And four. . Who cares?"

"Knocked her out?" Cameron asked warily.

M.W. smiled and nodded. "Mhm. The same way I did you. Don't worry, she's fine. I just had to make sure she didn't follow us."

* * *

"Before, you said you knocked Natalie out. . Can you prove that she's okay?" Cameron asked.

The Mystery Woman smiled coyly. "Sure." She motioned to one of her people and they pulled up footage on one of the screens. "See? She's perfectly fine." Cameron watched closely. It seemed to be a live feed from a traffic camera, and Natalie _looked_ okay.

"How do I know this is real?"

She shrugged. "You don't. Guess you'll just have to trust me, Cameron." She smiled at him and all he could think of was a cat about to eat the poor, unaware canary. There was nothing reassuring about it. "Come on. We have work to do."

* * *

"How's Dina?"

"She's freaking out," Jordan answered.

"I know, I'm sorry," Cam sighed. "And, uh. . . Natalie?" He was afraid of the answer, but needed to know one way or the other if M.W. was telling the truth about not hurting her.

Jordan seemed to hesitate before answering. "Well, whatever M.W. sprayed her with kept her out for a few hours. Police found her in the alley where she grabbed you, and they couldn't wake her up, so an ambulance took her to the hospital."

Cameron smiled dryly. "Oh, I'm sure she loved that."

Jordan chuckled. " _Yeah_ , not so much, boss. Gunter said she **bit** one of the nurses."

"Of course she did," Cam groaned, even as he smiled. His sister had never liked hospitals, after so many trips during her childhood for him or Johnny. He could just picture her displeasure to waking up in one. "But she's okay, right? M.W. didn't do anything else to her?"

"She's fine, Cam. Going out of her mind worrying about you, of course, but. . . Johnathan's here, and _that_ made her pretty happy. I swear she's practically glued herself to his side," Jordan muttered the last part, but Cam still heard. He was glad Johnny was there for Nat, but he knew it would break her heart when he inevitably had to go back to prison.

"You, uh. . You find that picture yet, Jordan?" One problem at a time.

* * *

Cameron's resolve wavered; he was torn between wanting to save his brother, and wanting to make it out of this whole thing with his soul still in tact. He wasn't a killer. Even after all Bishop had done to him, he couldn't find it in himself to pull the trigger, no matter how much M.W. egged him on. But then she poked at his biggest weak spot. "He will try to kill you again. And if you're dead, who's going to save Johnathan? Who's going to take care of Natalie? Are you going to leave her _all alone_?" The Mystery Woman was really going for it. "Remember. My tests are **always** real." Cameron still hesitated, and it seemed M.W. was losing her patience. "Time to decide, Cameron. What are you willing to do?"

"Yeah, Cameron. . ." Bishop held his arms out, as if welcoming the shot. He looked at the illusionist expectantly, and Cameron could feel M.W's gaze boring into his back.

Cameron's arms dropped to his sides. "I can't," he answered, his voice thick with emotion. He wished he could. In that moment, he _really_ wished that he could put all his emotions and basic morality aside and pull the damn trigger. But he couldn't.

Bishop came to stand shoulder to shoulder with him and leaned in close to whisper in his ear, "I told you, it was a tes-" Cameron jumped back when her heard the shot and fell off balance; he hit the floor at the same time as Bishop, and stared at the other man in horror. His eyes darted between the dead street artist and the beautiful psychopath who was now standing over him, gun still in hand.

"I told you," she said, her voice huskier than he'd ever heard it. "Your life is on the line." She seemed almost. . disappointed in him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Then, as if none of the events of the last five minutes had just happened, M.W. raised her right arm and checked her watch. "Time for hair and makeup," she announced casually, then walked away gracefully.

Cameron swallowed thickly and prayed that he'd survive the night.

* * *

"Remember: you're doing this to save Johnathan and give Natalie her family back," M.W. said in her casual and playful tone.

"Seriously? You're give me a pep talk?" Of all the people to get one from- "Two hours ago your murdered a man." She was the last person Cameron wanted trying to motivate him.

"I have layers," she said almost defensively.

"No, **you** have a personality disorder," Cameron countered quietly as he made his way through the crowd. "Addison the nerdy game designer, Mary the receptionist, Bishop's anarchist. . Even M.W, the brilliant illusionist. None of them are _real_. Not even sure there _is_ a real you under all the lies." Cameron froze when he heard a woman call his name, and slowly turned around to see. . . Johnathan. With Kay? "Johnathan and Kay are here." He listened to the woman ramble on about how awful it was that Johnathan had ruined Cameron's career, and saw Johnny tense. There was a dark flash in his twin's eyes when she mentioned Natalie, and how awful the whole situation must've been for her, and he was grateful to Kay for trying to pull Johnny away. When the stranger asked him to do a magic trick for her, Cameron found himself unable to look away. He'd almost forgotten how good a magician his brother was. Cameron eventually tore his gaze away when he felt Kay's eyes on him, and prayed that his partner and friend would be able to forgive him.

"Gotta be tough. To help your brother, you have to betray your partner."

"She _believed_ in me," Cameron said fiercely as he could without drawing attention.

"And he's your brother," M.W. countered apathetically.

Cameron swallowed hard. "I have to do this." It was more of a reminder to himself than a comment to her.

"That's right. Get the diamond, and Johnathan gets out of jail, and sweet little Natalie gets both of her brothers back."

Cameron curled his fingers in tightly. He was getting _really_ tired of the Mystery Woman using his little sister as leverage; he was getting tired of her talking about Natalie, period.

* * *

The air was being sucked out of the room. Cameron couldn't quite hear the conversation on the other side of the door, but he heard Johnny clearly when he said, "I can't just let him die." Cam knew. He knew they wouldn't be able to get him out. Oddly. . . He was okay with that. Maybe his kidnapping and death would someone give them the lead they needed to find M.W. If nothing else, Johnathan had been able to spend a few days outside, getting to be himself, in public, for the first time in their entire lives. The thought made him smile. That must've been nice for Johnny. Cameron hoped his brother had enjoyed himself while he was out; he hoped Kay would be able to swing it so he could stay out of prison until the funeral. Natalie would need him.

Natalie.

He saw Natalie standing between Dina and Johnathan and felt his stomach drop, and his smile fell as well. His entire family, small and ragtag as it was, was going to watch him die. Well. . . They might as well know it was him. Cameron reached up and pulled off the wig and latex mask, then dropped both to the floor. The last thing he heard was Natalie's scream and Johnathan frantically calling his name. Then everything went black.

* * *

 _I'm gonna do one more chapter focusing on the end part of episode 8, just tying up some loose ends. I thought about finishing everything in this chapter, but I like ending it with Cam passing out :D_


	15. All Grown Up

"The auction house thinks they have impenetrable security," Mike said, causing Natalie and Johnathan to both roll their eyes. They knew better than anyone no security was impenetrable. Highly sophisticated, sure, but every system had an exploitable flaw. Nothing was impossible. And there was one other thing to consider. . .

Gunter was the one to point it out. "No system has been built to keep Cameron out."

"Which is exactly why we'll be with him every step of the way," Agent Daniels said. Jordan walked away and they began planning the best strategy to catch M.W. and get Cam back. Everyone seemed to have a task, a specific place to be during the auction, except Natalie.

She frowned at the realization and spoke up, careless of whomever she was cutting off. "I'm coming, too." Dina and Johnathan exchanged a look that Natalie didn't care for. "I'm coming," she said more forcefully.

"Natalie-" Agent Daniels started gently.

"No." She shook her head forcefully and pulled away from Johnathan when he tried to put a comforting (or maybe restraining) hand on her shoulder. "No, you're not leaving behind, not for this. I've been helping plan and execute my brothers' tricks since I was thirteen. I can help. I can sit with Dina and Jordan in the control room, perfectly safe. I'm not asking you to _give me a gun_ , Agent Daniels. I don't want to fight. I just want to help get my brother back." Natalie crossed her arms defensively as she met everyone's gaze. "Besides. I may be the youngest here, but I'm technically an adult."

Johnathan's expression was equally amused and confused. "Since when, Nat? Last time I checked, seventeen year olds are still minors."

"Yeah, they are," Natalie agreed. "But I'm not seventeen anymore, am I?" The amusement fell from her brother's face and he frowned. "Look at the date," she said calmly. Johnathan and Dina both pulled out their phones and looked at the dates on their screens and both look mildly horrified; they'd forgotten her birthday.

"Oh, Natalie. . Darling, we didn't-" Dina stopped abruptly when Natalie held up a hand.

"D. I _really_ don't care about celebrating my stupid birthday. We've got more important things to worry about. The point is that I'm legally an adult, I'm part of this team, **and** I can help, so there's literally no reason not to bring me along." No one argued with her, though she could see the FBI agents were still hesitant about bringing her along. "I'll stay with Dina," she promised. " _Please_ don't make me stay behind. Not now. Not when we're so close. . ."

Mike and Agent Daniels looked at each other and nodded. "If it's okay with Johnathan. . ." Agent Daniels trailed off and looked at the eldest Black sibling.

Johnathan knew he couldn't refuse her even before he saw her wide, pleading eyes. "You _stay_ in the control room," he demanded, and Natalie nodded eagerly. "And you don't go anywhere without Gunter or Dina."

"Promise," Natalie said quickly, before Johnathan could change his mind. She smiled triumphantly. "Okay. Now that that's settled. . You **really** need to change, Johnny."

* * *

She didn't know what everyone had been so worked up about. It was pretty boring watching monitors with Dina and Jordan. Well. Boring wasn't exactly the right word. It _was_ interesting watching all the different feeds, having a Big Brother view of everything going on in the building, but there was nothing exciting or even remotely dangerous about it. They'd all be worried over nothing, Natalie thought. And that's exactly when things got interesting.

"Did you see that?" Dina didn't catch it, but Natalie did. "The guard put something on the communication box. I'll go check it out." Jordan ran from the room and Natalie took a step in his direction, but Dina caught her arm.

"Oh, no you don't. You heard Johnny. You stay in here, with me," she said firmly, no nonsense. Damn her producer voice.

Natalie sighed in defeat, knowing she'd get nowhere when Dina was in full protective mode like this. "Yes, ma'am." The auction continued, and Dina and Natalie monitored the feeds. When the Lynx diamond was brought out, everyone was instantly more focused. This was it. Everything seemed normal as the bidding started. Natalie had to laugh when Johnathan raised his paddle. "Did you seriously just make a bid?"

"I always wanted to do that," Johnathan replied.

"Yeah, well, you're lucky the bidding's still going. You don't have that kind of money." The shows had done well, but not _that_ well. And besides, paying for a good lawyer dramatically drained one's funds. No sooner had she said that then the cameras started going on the fritz. "Dina-"

"I see it," Dina breathed. "Uh, guys. Guys, I'm losing cameras. Something's happening," she said as she sat down in front of the monitors. Natalie stepped up behind her and grabbed the back of her chair as she leaned in closer to get a better look; not that it mattered, anyway. They could barely see anything through the static. Natalie and Dina both jumped when they heard the gunshots through the comms.

"Was that a **gun?** Johnny? What's happening?" Natalie asked, feeling a little frantic. "Johnathan, say something." The feeds were no help, now. They couldn't see anything, or _anyone_.

"I'm fine, Nat. He didn't shoot anyone, he just wanted to cause panic." Johnathan sounded a little winded, but didn't sound hurt. The cameras came back on in a few minutes, and they could see what was going on again. That brought Natalie a small amount of comfort. She wasn't able to _really_ relax, though, until she found the small image of her brother, upright and uninjured. Once she confirmed her brother's safety, her gaze drifted to the feed of the hallway with the communications box, where Jordan had just arrived. Then Henri appeared behind him moments later.

She grabbed Dina's shoulder and pointed to the screen. "Dina, look."

"What's going on? Jordan. Can you hear us?"

Natalie's gaze fell to the table where Jordan had left his comm. "Idiot," she muttered. "He forgot to put it in." They had no idea what he was saying to the thief. All they could do was watch as he was knocked out. "Jordan!"

"Guys. Guys. Jordan needs help," Dina said, doing her best to remain calm. "He's in trouble. He's on the east side hallway."

"Dina," Natalie said nervously. Her hand tightened convulsively on the woman's shoulder.

Dina reached up and grabbed her hand. "I know, darling, but we need to stay here so we can let the others know what's going on." Natalie hated the idea of sitting on her hands while her brother was running around in that chaos. She hated watching helplessly as everything went to hell. . . and things were going out of control rather quickly.

When Mike and the other guards were taken out, Natalie leaned over and gave Dina a pointed look. "Still think staying in here's the best way to help everyone?" A fat lot of good they were doing their team.

"I-. ." Dina looked helplessly between the monitors and Natalie. "Your brother doesn't want you in the middle of all of this."

"I don't really care what Johnathan wants right now! I'm going. You can sit here, watching crap happen, or you can come with me." Natalie took a couple steps back. "What's it gonna be, Dina?"

* * *

The door had sealed by the time they made it down the vault. Natalie was inclined to agree with Gunter. They all knew what Henri had done, and the fact that he was working with M.W. alone was reason enough to hate the man. But then Agent Daniels had to go and drop a bombshell. "It's not Henri." The team crowded around the door to get a better look at the man (not Henri Morel, apparently) trapped inside the vault, who was _smiling_ of all things.

Johnathan seemed to realize it first, if his quiet, "No" was any indication.

Natalie glanced at him just as the man reached up to grab his head. . . and remove a wig and mask. She screamed, because that's all she could do. There were no words in the English (or Russian) language to express what she was feeling. As one, she and Johnathan moved to the door and slammed their hands against the glass, shouting their brother's name as he dropped to the floor. She shook her head in horror and disbelief, frozen by helplessness and rising panic, while Johnathan tried to actually solve the problem. Everyone was talking, but none of the words actually registered. It was just words words words. She didn't hear Agent Daniels's warning to back away from the door, so Johnathan had to grab her by the shoulders and drag her away. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her from rushing back, and bent over her when the FBI agent started shooting.

That was enough to snap Natalie out of her panicked stupor.

"Are you out of your mind?" Natalie demanded of the woman. "It's **bullet proof** glass! What the hell is _shooting at it_ gonna do?!" Admittedly, it was about as effective as banging on the glass as she and Johnathan had done not moments before, but Natalie couldn't be that generous in her thinking towards Agent Daniels. As soon as the shooting stopped, the team rushed back to the door to see Cameron stirring on the floor. "Cam! Cameron! Come on, Cam, get up," Natalie shouted, just as the rest of her small family did. Maybe he couldn't hear them, maybe it was already too late to save her brother, but it was better than doing nothing. Watching Cameron crawl across the floor was too much. She couldn't watch her brother die. She couldn't. Natalie turned away and hid her face in Johnathan's shoulder. One of his arms dropped around her and pulled her close while the other remained pressed against the glass. The shouting turned into a dull roar and Natalie let the words slip away as she gasped for air. Johnathan must of noticed something was wrong because his arm tightened around her; ever the big brother, doing everything he could to take care of both of his siblings.

Suddenly Johnathan was pulling away and that made Natalie cling to him. She heard him call for Gunter, felt him gently pry her off him, and then she was in Gunter's arms. Distantly, she heard Gunter's gravelly, "I got you, sweetheart." Natalie tried to stay grounded in the moment, but it was hard, especially when she desperately didn't want to be in the moment. Even though she dreaded what she might see, Natalie turned her head toward the vault door. Which was open. It took her brain a moment to process that, and it took another moment to process that her brothers were together, on the floor, hugging. Cameron's eyes locked with her and she tore away from Gunter's arms and slid a little on her knees as she dropped to the floor to join her brothers.

"I-Is he okay? Are you okay?" Natalie asked frantically. She didn't know which was shaking more; her body or her voice.

Cam smiled tiredly at her. "'m fine. . Nat."

"Idiot," Natalie laughed even as tears fell. She grabbed Cam's head and kissed the side of it before wrapping her arms around both of her brothers. "Both of you, honestly-" She slipped into Russian, ranting about what absolute idiots they were, and how she was so unlucky to have two stupid brothers who seemed to like nothing more than make her sick with worry.

Johnathan, who understood everything she said, just chuckled and mumbled, "Sorry, Nat."

Cameron, who understood nothing, whined softly. " _English_ , Nattie. If yer gonna. . insult me. . do it in English."

"Dumb, stupid, idiot," Natalie said fondly. "How's _that_ for English?"

"Offensive," Cam sighed. "But. . .at least I understood it." His head tipped back and he gave her an exhausted grin.

* * *

Paramedics eventually came down to the vault with a gurney so they could take Cameron to the hospital. They would later find out that on top of nearly being suffocated, he'd been sedated and knocked out with brute force multiple times, and he was **lucky** to only have a minor concussion. What little control over her panic that being able to hold Cameron (who was thankfully very much alive) was instantly shattered when he was taken away. Johnathan pulled her close and told Agent Daniels they'd meet her at the hospital. It took nearly ten minutes for him to calm her down. By that point, Mike and the security guards were fully awake after their little nap, courtesy M.W.

Agent Daniels was nice enough to let their little family have the room. They all surrounded the bed, except Natalie, who climbed onto the bed and lay right down next to Cameron. They talked off and on for about an hour before being told they needed to leave again. Even though visiting hours were over, Natalie refused to leave until a doctor assured her that Cameron would be able to come home tomorrow morning.

"You have to go back now," Natalie said quietly when they were walking to the car. She looked at Johnathan with wide eyes. "Cam's back, so. . They're gonna take you back to prison, right?"

"Not tonight," Agent Daniels answered. Johnathan looked almost as surprised as Natalie and Agent Daniels smiled. "I think you've earned one last night in your own bed, Johnathan. Come on. We'll take you home."

For the first time, Natalie felt like she understood a little why her family liked this woman so much.

* * *

"Johnathan, I'm sorry. . Time to go." Mike actually did look sorry for taking him away; he'd seen how much Johnathan meant to all of them.

Natalie stood up with Johnathan and they looked hard at each other a moment before hugging tightly. "You gonna be okay?" he asked quietly.

"Are **you?** " she countered.

Johnathan didn't answer. "You be good, okay? Try to keep that idiot from getting into any more trouble for a while."

"That's a pretty big ask," Natalie chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. . But if anyone can do it, it's you." He kissed the top of her head and pulled away. Johnathan paused as he walked out with the two agents. "Oh, Nat. Go check your room. I left something for you." When Natalie's only response was a confused look, he grinned. "You didn't honestly think I forgot about your birthday, did you?"

* * *

 _Natalie is finally a grown up, which means she can start really getting involved. I knew I was gonna have her hit eighteen at some point, and this felt like the perfect time to do it. I included the bit about Jordan's comm because it didn't make sense to me that no one heard that conversation between him and Cameron when Cam was posing as Henri. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!_


	16. Learning To Communicate

_I was going to do a chapter for episode 9, Getting Away Clean, but I just really wanted to do a chapter of Nat's childhood. So, here's a little chapter of a child Natalie and a teenage Johnathan (and Cameron) while Sebastian does whatever the hell it is he did when not emotionally damaging his children._

* * *

After living with them for almost two years, Natalie had a pretty good grasp on English (for a five year old). Sometimes she forgot words, though. She tried to explain what she wanted, got frustrated when she couldn't, then immediately slipped into Russian. Sebastian had insisted on her learning English, and the boys had agreed with him, since neither of them knew Russian and Sebastian was only conversational. However _Johnathan_ did **not** agree that she should stop speaking Russian altogether. It was part of her.

So the then fifteen-year-old had taken it upon himself to start learning Russian. He bought an English to Russian dictionary, as well as a few other books, and found as much as he could online. Every so often, Johnathan would string together a simple sentence for his little sister. Simple things. **Chto vy kholite na obed?** What do you want for dinner? He was guessing mostly at the accent, and sometimes it took him a few tries to get it close enough that Natalie understood him, but it was worth it whenever her eyes lit up in recognition and she smiled brightly up at him. Three-year-olds were easy to please, Johnathan quickly learned.

Johnny and Cam always tried to hide their amusement when Natalie forgot words in English, but it was hard when her round little face scrunched up in frustrated concentration. It never did well to laugh at her; that was something both of them had learned early on. Small, cherubic face or not, there was something mildly frightening about someone screaming at you in Russian.

"Cammy." Natalie pulled on the hem of her brother's shirt. When she had his attention she pointed to the kitchen. "Want a . . p-p. . ." Natalie frowned hard, realizing she couldn't remember the word in English. She cupped her little hands together, trying to show Cameron the rough size of what she wanted. "Small. . ." It happened, sometimes, that when she forgot one word in English, she forgot several of the ones that would be helpful in describing what she was talking about. " **Krasnyy.** " Red.

"Oh. Russian. Okay. This is where I stop being useful." Cameron was good at helping his little sister read and teaching her new words, reminding her of ones she forgot, but he was never any good at speaking Russian. No, that was Johnny's department. "Hey, John!" Cam yelled over his shoulder. "Johnathan."

Johnathan stuck his head around the corner, having been in the library moments before. "Yeah, Cam."

"I believe we have a situation that requires your expertise," Cameron said, pointing down to one _very pouty_ little sister. "She wants something. Says it's small and. . krasnyy? That sound right, Nattie," he asked, looking down to address the question to her.

"Krasnyy," Natalie confirmed. She looked at Johnathan, hoping he'd understand, trusting him to figure it out if he didn't.

"That's red," Johnathan told his twin as he walked over and scooped Natalie up in his arms. "Alright. Small and red. . Anything else, Nat?" She pointed to the kitchen again, like she had with Cam, and Johnathan nodded and started walking that way. "Small, red, and it's in the kitchen. Can you eat it?"

Natalie nodded. "Da."

Johnathan set her down on the counter and opened the fridge. He held up a red fruit with one eyebrow slightly raised. "This what you were getting at ptichka?"

"Da, da! Yabloko!" Natalie cheered. She knew Johnathan would get it.

"Apple," Johnathan said as he handed it over. "In English, it's called an apple."

Natalie held the apple in her hands and stared at it hard. "Ap-ple," she said slowly. "Apple."

"You got it." Johnathan ruffled her dark hair a little, making Natalie giggle. "Do you wanna eat it like that, or do you want me to cut it up for you?"

Natalie thought hard for a moment before holding that apple out to him. "Cut?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure thing, ptichka." He plucked the apple out of her hand and grabbed a knife from the wooden block sitting on the counter. "What's the rule about knives, Natalie?" Johnathan asked before cutting.

"No, Natalie," she answered sternly.

Johnathan bit back a chuckle. "Close enough." The little girl always wanted to do what her big brothers did, even though a lot of those things weren't safe for a child. He honestly wasn't surprised that's how she'd remembered the rule, because that's generally what she heard when she was found holding a knife, or getting into something else that she could easily injure herself with. Johnathan deftly cut the apple up into slices for her and handed one over. Natalie eagerly took a bit out it and smiled happily as she chewed. "Hey. What do you say?" he asked with a playful poke to her stomach (after she'd swallowed, of course), making her giggle again.

"Spasibo, bol'shoy brat." Thank you, big brother.

Johnathan thought about correcting her, but Sebastian wasn't there to complain, and he understood what she meant. "Pozhaluysta." You're welcome.

Cameron waltzed into the kitchen and picked an apple slice off the counter and popped the whole thing in his mouth before Johnathan could stop him. "Wha's this called in Russian?" he asked around partially chewed apple.

"Yabloko," Johnathan replied with a mildly disgusted expression. He flicked his brother in the forehead, right between the eyes, and shook his head. "And you can cut your own damn apple," he muttered.

"Oooh, Johnny, ya better be careful. Don't want our young, impressionable, baby sister picking up on that kinda language, now do we?" He leaned against the counter next to his little sister and tapped her knee to get her attention. "Nattie. Why don't you remind Johnny the rule about swearing?"

"It's okay when you hurt," Natalie said seriously.

"And _are_ you hurt, Johnny?" Cam asked playfully.

Johnathan let out a long-suffering sigh. " **No,** but _you're_ about to be-"

"Ah ah ah! Not in front of the child!"

" **You're** a child," Johnathan muttered. "Nataliya, vot pochemu ty moy lyubimyy brat." This is why you're my favorite sibling.

Cameron pouted a little while Natalie grinned. "Hey! That's not fair. Don't talk about me in another language," Cam whined.

"What makes you think I was talking about you, ya little narcissist?" Johnathan couldn't pull off the innocent look, it just didn't work.

"Why else would you be talking in Russian?!" He turned to Natalie. "What'd he say about me?"

"Ne govori yemu nichego," Johnathan said. Don't tell him anything. "It'll be our little secret, ptichka. Da?" He held up a hand with one pinky out.

"What?! No! Natalie, come on, tell your big brother-"

Natalie hooked her little pinky around Johnathan's. "Da."

"That's my girl," Johnathan said proudly.

"What the hell, you guys!" Cameron shouted.

"Bad Cam," Natalie scolded, gesturing at him with another apple slice.

Johnathan barely managed to contain his snicker at his brother's offended expression. "That's right, Nattie. Bad Cam. He should know better than to use those naughty words."

" _Betrayed_ by my own flesh and blood," Cameron groaned dramatically while he leaned heavily against the fridge with the back of his hand pressed to his forehead. "How will I go on living in this cruel world?"

Johnny rolled his eyes as his brother's antics. "Kemeron - takaya koroleva dramy," he told Natalie. At five years old, she often took these things seriously. "Ne slushay yego, Nataliya." Cameron is a drama queen. Don't listen to him. Natalie nodded seriously and continued eating her snack.

"Okay, seriously, _what_ are you saying," Cam demanded.

"Guess someone should start learning Russian, if he's that curious," Johnathan retorted.

" _Or_ you could stop speaking a foreign language!"

" **Or** you could get over it."

Cameron rolled his eyes. "We both know _that's_ not gonna happen."

"Then get used to disappointment, Cam."

* * *

 _So. Spark17 left a review about wanting to see more of Johnathan and Natalie speaking Russian, and I honestly have been wanting to write more of it as well. This was a fun way to do it, and to show how close they've always been, even in the early years. ALL Russian translations were done by Google Translate, so I apologize to those who actually speak Russian for any inaccuracies. I did include the English version right after it so you wouldn't have to look it up. Except the little pet name Johnathan calls her, ptichka. It basically means birdie/little bird._


	17. Black and White

While Cameron was off being. . Cameron, running around the city playing cop, desperately trying to get back into the FBI's good graces, Natalie was beginning to feel a little stir crazy. It was an odd feeling for her. She'd always been more of a home body, and the past year she'd grown to be borderline agoraphobic. Today, though, she felt this inexplicable urge to get out. So. . She did. Natalie was eighteen, now, so it wasn't like she needed anyone's permission. She did make sure to tell Dina and Gunter that she was going out for a while. The announcement was met first with stunned silence, then stammered orders to be careful, make sure she wore a coat, and to call them if she needed anything. It made her laugh a little as she walked out the door, hands casually stuffed in the pockets of her long purple coat.

Natalie walked the streets aimlessly until she found herself on Madison. That was when she finally got a destination in mind. William Greenberg Desserts, home of **the best** black-and-white cookies to ever exist. Nostalgia filled her as she remembered going there with Johnathan (pretending to be Cameron, of course). They always split a black-and-white between them, each getting half of both colors. They usually brought something back for everyone at home as well, but walking down to William Greenberg had always been something for just the two of them.

As soon as she walked into the door of the bakery, she was greeted warmly by one of the workers. "Hey! Look who it is," he crowed. Natalie liked Greg. He was an older man with a fatherly air and had always been nice to her over the years she and Johnathan had frequented the bakery. "Haven't seen you around in a while. What can I get ya, sweetheart?"

"Oh, come on, Greg. It hasn't been _that_ long," Natalie replied with a playful huff. "Don't tell me you've forgotten. Or has your memory finally started to go, old man?"

"Hey now," he chuckled. "There's no need for that. One black-and-white comin' right up. Ya want anythin' else, Natalie?"

She shook her head. "Just the black-and-white." She paid for the cookie and waved at Greg as she walked out, promising she'd be back soon. The cookie in hand, she suddenly knew the next place she needed to go. She hailed a cab and gave him her destination, and soon (for New York traffic) she was at the prison. Natalie stowed the black-and-white inside her coat before walking inside. She signed in and was lead to the general visiting area; it wasn't an official FBI visit, so there was no reason to use the room where Johnny worked on codes for them. He smiled when he saw her and Natalie quickly made her way over to the table where he sat waiting. "Hi," she said, a little little breathless.

"Hey you. What's up? You seem. . ."

Natalie shrugged as she undid the buttons of her coat. "Nothing, nothing. . I don't know. . ."

"You doing okay after-?"

"After being drugged, abandoned in an alley, my brother going missing for a few days and nearly watching that same brother suffocate in a locked vault?" Natalie asked flippantly.

Johnathan smirked and nodded. "Yeah, that."

"Aside from. . some nightmares and being a little clingy to Cam the first couple of days. . ." Natalie nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm okay, all things considered." She reached up to fiddle with the necklace she wore.

"So you finally opened it."

"Huh? Oh. Right. _This._ " Natalie's chuckle was tinged with some embarrassment. Cameron had given her a small box on her birthday last year from Johnathan, something he'd apparently bought for her before getting arrested, and Natalie had adamantly refused to open it without him-Johnathan-present. She'd finally opened it a few nights ago when she turned eighteen before opening his present for _this_ birthday. It was a necklace, a replica from Anastasia. Emeralds and rubies made up a flower, and on the back was inscribed 'Together in Paris'. "I can't believe you remembered," she mumbled as she blushed.

" _Remember?_ Nat, how many times did we watch that movie when you were growing up?"

"It wasn't that oft-"

" **A lot,** " Johnathan interrupted her weak denial. "Besides, it's **still** your favorite movie."

Natalie scoffed. "It is not."

"Oh no?" He smirked and gave her that look that said 'I know you better than you know yourself, kid'. "So, I guess I _imagined_ you running into the room screaming when you found out that they were making it into a Broadway play?"

Natalie's face turned even more red and she hid her face in her hands, but not before Johnathan was able to catch her grin. "Okay, okay," she admitted with her face still covered. "It's still my favorite. Don't be a jerk about it." The only response she got for that was Johnathan's laughter. Another minute passed before she finally moved her hands away from her face. She ran them through her hair before dropping them to her lap.

"Speaking of Anastasia, who are you gonna give the other ticket to?" Johnathan asked curiously, because this year he'd gotten her tickets (with Dina's help) to the very play his little sister had nearly exploded over.

"Dina," Natalie said like it was obvious; it probably should have been, given that the only other people in her life were _men_ who had little to no interest in musicals. "We're gonna make it a girls' night. I think we could both use it. . ."

"Sounds like a good idea." Johnathan hesitated a moment before leaning forward with his elbows resting on the table between them. "You mentioned nightmares. . ."

She shook her head quickly to head him off. "They're nothing, Johnny."

"Natalie-"

"No, really, don't worry. It's- I had them after you were arrested. I had them when you were convicted, too. It's just. . my subconscious likes to play out worst case scenarios and horrible what-ifs while I'm asleep. That's all it is," she spoke quickly, but quietly, so Johnathan had to lean forward a little more to catch everything she said.

"So these ones. . Are they about _you_ or _Cam?_ "

"Both," Natalie admitted. "Or. It depends. Mostly Cam, though. What she could've done to him. . . Him dying in that vault. . ." Both siblings shivered a little at the thought of their brother dying. "It's- It's fine, though, because I wake up, and I'm safe and Cam's safe, and. . . it's fine." It wasn't, though. She'd woken up screaming after each one and Cameron had come running every time to calm her down, except for the first night he was home. That first night, she'd slept in his bed with him, her anxiety not allowing her to fall asleep without the constant reassurance of his steady breathing next to her that he was in fact safe and home and _alive_. Before Johnathan could ask her any more questions that she really didn't want to answer, Natalie pulled the nearly forgotten cookie from her coat and stealthily held it up. "Look what I got."

"You went to William Greenberg without me?" Johnathan put a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I'm hurt. I'm _wounded_."

"You're ridiculous," Natalie giggled. "I just. . I needed a little normal in my life." She glanced around and made sure no guards were focused on them. "If we're really stealthy, I bet we could still split it."

He raised an eyebrow even as the corners of his mouth twitched up. "You sure you wanna risk it?"

"Is Johnathan Black scared of some hack prison guards?" Her expression very clearly read 'I dare you'.

He waited a beat before sticking his hands under the table. "Alright, let's do this. All under the table, though. We keep the contraband outta sight."

"Duh."

And the two of them spent the next ten minutes chatting while Natalie carefully broke off bits of the black-and-white and passed them along to Johnathan under the table. They snuck in bites every so often, making sure the guards were looking the other way each time. When they were done, she stuffed the plastic wrapper in her pocket and pulled out her phone to check the time. "I should get back. It's gonna be getting dark soon, and I- I don't wanna make Dina worry."

Right. That was the reason. It had nothing to do with the last time she was out at night, when she got her head smashed into a dumpster and sedative sprayed in her face.

Johnathan allowed her the lie, though, just like he'd allowed her to change the subject to the cookie. "Probably a good idea. Wouldn't wanna give her any more grey hairs than Cam already does," he replied with a wry smile.

"Exactly," Natalie agreed as she stood up. ". . . Johnny?"

"Yeah, Nat?"

Her hand automatically went to her necklace and she smiled softly. "Thank you. . for the- well, for everything, really." She felt unexpectedly choked up as she said the words.

"Well. . You're welcome."

Natalie still didn't move. "Ya lyublyu tebya." I love you.

"Bol'she, chem moya sobstvennaya zhizn'." More than my own life, was Johnathan's emotional reply.

"Da," she replied softly with tears in her eyes as she nodded.

* * *

 _SO. I mentioned before that I had gone to New York for a week (and it was amazing) and that I wanted to incorporate some things I saw into this story since it's set in the city. William Greenberg is a delicious bakery that everyone should try if they have the chance, 10/10 would recommend._

 _And did I name this chapter after a cookie? Yes. Yes I did._

 _Note: **real bakery** , but the employee Natalie talked to, Greg is entirely fictitious._

 _Anyway, I didn't really have much inspiration for how to fit Nattie into the main story of episode 9, so I went with this idea of her visiting Johnny while everyone else is wrapped up in their own thing. Part of me is tempted to skip 10 and 11 so I can get to the finale, but I REALLY want to do every episode. We'll see what happens. As always, thanks for reading my lovelies._


	18. The Conspiracy of Crows

_At some point I really want to make a joke about Natalie loving "all things Russian"- more specifically someone **assuming** she likes something (or even knows about it) and Natalie getting all huffy like "Just because **I'm** Russian, doesn't automatically make me your encyclopedia to **all things** Russian." I keep thinking about it, and I'm gonna find a way to work it in, just you wait._

* * *

"I thought the whole conspiracy thing was right up your alley," Kay teased.

"Alright. Just 'cause I'm dealing with an _actual_ , **complex** conspiracy around my brother doesn't mean I think the earth is flat or that Tupac's still dropping albums," he replied, admittedly a touch defensive. Natalie, on the other hand. . Well. Part of her 'open-mindedness' (and part of Johnathan's influence, he was sure) was that she was fascinated by conspiracy theories. His sister didn't exactly buy into every single one that she came across, but she liked to look into them. Da Vinci Code? Right up her alley. Though that series had also given her a fear of the Catholic church that last for about three years, and she was still a little wary of it even now, no matter how many times her brothers assured her that they were fiction.

"Right, but admit it. All conspiracies sound a little crazy."

Cam had no arguments there. He'd just had a conversation with his brother earlier that morning about what looking into puzzles and codes could do to his head, how he was pulling conspiracies out of thin air (because, really, what were the chances of someone trying to set his brother up for murder _again?_ ).

* * *

 _Eight years **is** better than twenty. **Eight** years is better than **twenty**. Eight years. . . _

The words kept playing over and over in his head like a horrifying and broken record. Johnny didn't want to confess; he was already serving time for a murder he hadn't committed, he couldn't serve more time for another. On the other hand. . . Twenty years on top of the time he was already sentenced for? He'd be an old man by the time he got out. He knew Cameron was doing everything he could to clear his name, but Johnathan had never been inclined toward optimism. So. Assuming Cameron couldn't get him out of prison, Faust had a point. An extra eight years was better than an extra twenty. But still. . .

He couldn't bring himself to confess. He didn't need a day to think about it, he knew his answer wouldn't change. He needed help, but. . .

Cameron had already dismissed him, told him he was being paranoid. He couldn't tell Natalie about this; his little sister worried far too much about all of them already, even when things were normal and everyone was safe. He couldn't give her anxiety actual ammunition. That left the team. Gunter and Jordan would help him, he knew, maybe even Dina, but he felt guilty asking them to break the law for him-and he was certain to get the proof that he was being framed, he would need to break the law.

Oh, Johnathan would use that day to think alright, but it wouldn't be about whether or not to accept Faust's BS deal. It would be about how to get revenge. He just needed a plan.

* * *

"And you said Ernie Arbus was crazy," Natalie said smugly to Jordan.

"Oh, he was still a total nut job, Natalie," Jordan replied easily as he grabbed the cables needed so they could watch the crackpot's tape.

"Nut job's don't get blown up," she argued.

Jordan huffed and looked up at her from his crouched position. "Look. What's that old saying? Broken clock's right twice a day, doesn't mean it's not broken." Or. Something like that. "Point is, just because he might have actually stumbled onto something real, doesn't mean he wasn't totally cracked, Fly."

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" Natalie demanded.

"Why _do_ you call her that?" Agent Daniels asked curiously from the other side of the TV set. She'd heard it more than once, but no one else had questioned it, so she assumed it was some old joke between them (one that had apparently gotten very old for Natalie).

Jordan stood up with a grin. "It's actually a funny story. See-"

"It's just some _stupid nickname_ he came up with when I was a kid, and he's **never. stopped. using. it,** no matter how much I threaten him. It's really not that interesting." When Agent Daniels only looked more curious, Natalie sighed. "G-N-A-T. It's spelled different, but it sounds _just like_ the shortened version of my name. And what's a gnat, with a 'g'?"

"A. . little fly," Agent Daniels answered after a beat.

Natalie nodded. "There you have it, mystery solved. . Pretty sure Jordan came up with it when he was drunk or something, but he refuses to let it die, despite the fact that I'm not ten years old anymore."

Instead of commenting on Natalie's obvious displeasure, or defending his use of a nickname that so clearly irritated her, Jordan merely stood up and said, "Got it. Hit the lights."

The tape was unsettling, to say the least. It started off mundane enough, but then the chanting started, and Natalie felt chills run down her spine.

 _"Dark as midnight, cold and shrewd_  
 _so the raven feeds the brood."_

She agreed with Dina, he should have stayed far away from the ominous chanting. As if the weren't bad enough, there was a young woman tied to a chair in a circle of people in what looked like plague masks and black robes. Feeding the brood. . were they planning on eating her? Was this some cult of ritualistic cannibals who ran the world? There were too many possible scenarios and none that Natalie could think of were pleasant ones.

When the creepy crow people saw poor Ernie, one of them pulled out a knife and went at him, then the video cut out. Natalie knew he'd survived the encounter (ironically only long enough to be blown up in his car), but it still made her blood run cold. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sleeping with the lights on for a week," Natalie joked weakly. No one said anything, but she caught Dina nodding her head in agreement out of the corner of her eye. Agent Daniels had Gunter rewind the tape and they caught sight of the fancy astronaut watch. The same one that Senator Connors wore. _Great,_ Natalie thought, _our state senator is a murderer._

* * *

"He was _exasperating_ to be around. . but I loved him," Alicia said tearfully. Cameron could tell she was doing everything she could to hold it together-something he understood completely. Then she looked at him with those big eyes, lips bit together, and he felt the need to say _something_ , even though he wasn't sure what exactly to say.

"Yeah. ." was the Amazing Cameron Black's initial, brilliant, response. "That, um, that gets better, by the way. It doesn't go away, entirely, but-" He was speaking gently, but quickly, fearing that if he thought too much about what he was saying, he wouldn't say it at all. He didn't open up to people, not about his childhood. But. . Alicia just seemed so sad, and he felt that she of all people would understand. "I also had a father who was. . . demanding," Cameron told her as he took a seat next to her on the sofa. "Had some weird ideas." The largest of understatements.

Alicia leaned in a little and said, "Like keeping one of his sons a secret from the world?" They both laughed, because when said out loud like that, it really did sound absurd-not that Cameron hadn't always known it was far from normal, but it was different hearing the words, especially from someone else's mouth. "I did a piece on you and your siblings after your brother was arrested."

"Oh. . . Hope it was one of the nice ones," Cameron said with a look of mild concern. He liked Alicia; it would be a shame to find out she'd written one of the many critical (at best) articles about him and Johnny. He didn't have to wait long for her answer.

"It wasn't a hit piece," she assured him with a soft, but still tearful, laugh. "Just the facts." Just the facts? That was something new and refreshing. Cam made a mental note to go look up the article when this was all done. "Hey. Can I ask you. . what it was like, growing up like that?" It wasn't nosy or intrusive, she wasn't trying to get a scoop for a follow-up. He could tell she was genuinely interested in hearing his answer.

"Honestly, we thought it was great," Cameron responded immediately. "It was like international hide-and-seek. You know? Luggage, milk cans, crates." They both laughed again. "It wasn't until we were teenagers that it started getting old. And then our little sister was thrown into the mix, and. . ." And, in some ways, Natalie was treated even worse than Johnathan. His brother may have had to hide his whole life, but at least at home their father acknowledged him. With Natalie, he often ignored her, brushed her off to the side. "It just wasn't fun anymore," he finished softly.

"It's crazy. . the things that I loved about then, became the things that I hated later."

Cam nodded, understanding completely where she was coming from. "Yeah."

Before their little heart-to-heart could go any further, Kay called him away. Cameron _was_ focused on following the lead they had, Cuerna Blanca, but he would have been lying if he said it was the only thing on his mind.

* * *

There was much debate about whether or not Natalie should be allowed to come along. Planning a deception was one thing, but actually participating-"These people are murderers" Cam had argued fiercely. Ultimately, she had won. She was eighteen, she wouldn't be alone at any point, and even if she got separated from everyone else, she wasn't exactly defenseless.

She hadn't realized how much fun it could be to mess with someone's head like this, especially when that someone was a murderer. Natalie couldn't help giggling as they maneuvered Quaid to the stairwell. Given the contrasting silence, and how it echoed off the halls. . it was actually quite effective in freaking him out even more. Natalie made her way down the stairs as Gunter and Jordan threw him over the railing.

"Mr. Quaid. The crimes you have committed could cast a light upon us. Or just upon you," Cameron said ominously.

"What?" Quaid asked indignantly.

Natalie made her way down the stairs and quoted that eerie little chant of Corvus Vale's. "Dark as midnight, cold and shrewd. So the raven feeds the brood. . What _exactly_ did you think that meant, Mr. Quaid? Sacrifice the one, for the sake of the many. . feed the brood, as it were."

"Confess your crimes to the authorities. Tell them everything. Or we will do what we must." Maybe Natalie _shouldn't_ have taken as much pleasure in Quaid's fear as she did, but was it _really_ so bad to enjoy hurting someone who hurt others for the sake of making a buck? Just before Cameron severed the rope, Natalie couldn't resist raising a hand and waving casually at him. And yeah. . . She enjoyed listening to him scream. "Leave him in the office. We gotta get outta here."

Natalie followed her brother down the stairs, with a gleeful grin. "I really don't see what you were so worried about, Cam. We didn't even run into any-" She stopped short when Cameron's arm flung out to keep her from advancing down the stairs as a security guard came onto the landing with a gun pointed right at them. "Crap," she breathed. She stood behind her brother, just a step above him, and never took her eyes off the gun aimed at her brother's head. Natalie grabbed the back of his robe with both hands in a silent attempt to draw comfort from him while he tried to talk their way out of this. His hand subtly reached back to grab one of hers and he gave it a quick squeeze, and he never showed any sign that he was even a little scared.

A large man also in Corvus Vale garb appeared and knocked the guard out. "Thanks Gunter," Cam immediately said as he pulled off the mask and robe. "Alright. Come on. Let's go."

"Wh-? Wait, Cam-" Gunter was still several floors above them, helping Jordan move Quaid back to his office. How could he possibly have made it down stairs around them? This man was not their friend. But then why help them?

Dina, Gunter and Jordan appeared on the landing above them and were quickly making their way down. At some point when she and Cameron looked up to watch their descent, their mysterious guardian had disappeared. There would be time to try and work this all out later. For now, they needed to run.

* * *

"Your father broke with tradition. Wanted nothing to do with Corvus Vale. Bu, if you choose, both you and your brother can join as legacies. Your sister, too, for that matter, once she's a little older."

Cameron smirked as he fiddled with the ring. "Natalie would love that." And she would, now that she knew Corvus Vale wasn't some sort of murder cult. Though maybe he'd wait to tell her about her waiting membership until she was a little older, like Connors said. Even if it was just a social club, Cameron thought his sister had enough to deal with for now. She could join a secret society once she'd gone to college. Until then. . Cameron had a mysterious pen to file away and a wrap party to get back to.

* * *

 _I don't know why, but I just felt like conspiracy theories are absolutely something Natalie would get into. Side note: They're called Corvus Vale (corvus meaning 'crow') yet their little chant talks about a raven. . . Does this little detail bug anyone else, or is it just me?_

 _Finally wrote out the explanation for Jordan calling Natalie 'Fly'; I'm sure some of you figured it out, but I wanted to have it in here. So there it is. This chapter was really fun for me to write because it's finally got Natalie being actively involved in what the team does, whether Cameron likes it or not (gonna go with not, because he is a protective older brother)._

 _Now episode 11 will be REALLY interesting to fit Natalie into because they're dealing with an assassin and Cam is 100% not going to want his baby sister anywhere near that. . . but since when do the twins get what they want?_


	19. Christmas At The Archive

_It's been a while since I posted, and with Thanksgiving come and gone, and Christmas now approaching, I felt like writing something holly jolly! So, here's a cute holiday themed chapter! (the chapter based on episode 11 is still coming, worry not)_

* * *

"Seriously, you two? We literally just had Thanksgiving dinner," Johnathan huffed when he caught his siblings surrounded by boxes of Christmas decorations. Neither of them had the decency to look guilty, even for a moment. Instead they had broad, excited grins. "You can't even wait until tomorrow to get this junk out?"

At that, Natalie and Cameron looked outraged. " **Junk?** " Cam demanded. "This isn't _junk_ , Johnny, it's-"

"It's festive," Natalie finished.

"Exactly. It's _festive._ And it's going up whether you like it or not. You can either help us, or you can take your- What did you call it earlier, Nattie?"

"Bah humbuggery," she replied, her grin growing impossibly wider.

Cameron snickered and Johnathan rolled his eyes. "Bah humbuggery?" he asked incredulously.

His twin nodded. "You heard her, Ebenezer. **Bah humbuggery.** What's it gonna be? Will your heart grow three sizes today, or are you gonna go sulk?"

"Now you're just mixing references," Johnathan grumbled. He was fully prepared to go hide in his room to avoid the _festivity_ , as his siblings put it, but then he made the perilous mistake of meeting his little sister's eyes (which were suddenly wide with pleading).

" _Please_ , Johnny?"

It really wasn't **fair** for a thirteen year old to pull off that look of childlike longing, with the big eyes and the hesitant smile, and the way her voice got small and shy, like she was afraid of the potential rejection. Despite what Cameron may think, Johnathan did _not_ have a small and shriveled heart. So how was he supposed to deny his baby sister anything when she looked at him like that? "Dammit, _fine_ ," Johnathan sighed as he hung his head for a moment; his siblings cheered, already certain of the answer they were about to get. "I'm not singing any Christmas carols, so you two can just forget about that," he warned as he walked over, already rolling up his sleeves.

"Now that you mention it- Natalie, mood music, please."

Johnathan groaned, but said nothing; he'd walked right into that one, really, and knew he only had himself to blame.

"What's this I hear about Christmas carols?" Dina asked as she walked in. Johnathan turned just in time to see his girlfriend's eyes go wide in surprise at the many boxes overflowing with decorations. "I swear, it's like the boxes reproduce during the off season. There's more and more every year," she said quietly. "I see we're getting a jump on decorating this year." Dina said it as if Cameron and Natalie didn't try to decorate early _every_ year. "Well then." She leaned back through the door and called for Gunter and Jordan. "Looks like we'll need all hands on deck. . the halls."

"Oh, babe, come on," Johnathan groaned while his brother and sister burst out laughing at the pun. Dina shrugged and smirked a bit as she came to wrap an arm around his waist.

"'Tis the season, darling. Besides, you know it's impossible not to get into the Christmas spirit once those two get going."

"Well, I know which song to start us off," Natalie said before hitting play. Deck The Halls began playing through the Bluetooth speaker just as Gunter and Jordan rounded the corner.

"Oi! What's all this, then?" the older man demanded in his typical growling tone. "You've started decoratin' without me?"

Natalie appeared from behind a box with a glittery garland around her neck like a feathered boa. "Gunter, we would **never** start decorating without you. We've only just got the boxes out and put on the appropriate music."

Gunter beamed and clapped his hands, rubbing his palms together the way he did when he was about to prepare a rigging or some other prop for a show. "Right then! Let's get started." Surprisingly, Gunter loved decorating for the holidays. _Any_ holiday, really. Halloween was an especially fun time in the Archive with the old technician around. No one would have suspected the normally grouchy old man to have such a festive spirit.

"I'm with Johnny on this one, guys. It's too early to be doing this," Jordan commented as he stood in the midst of the Christmas decorations with his arms crossed over his chest.

Natalie cupped a hand around her ear even as she turned the music up louder. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the _'fa la la, la la la, la la la',_ " she sang loudly. Jordan rolled his eyes, but caved just like Johnathan had and began pulling out decorations, meanwhile Cameron chuckled and even Johnathan smirked.

The next couple of hours passed with the team-the family, really-putting up decorations and one by one, joining Natalie in singing along to the holiday music. All except Johnny, who stubbornly refused to sing. He was doing quite well until 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' came on. Decorating was put on hold when Dina started dancing. "Come on, Johnny- Have some _fun_ ," she enticed as she grabbed his hips and tried to get him dancing with her.

Johnathan smiled in spite of himself but shook his head. "Not gonna happen, D."

Cameron then swooped in and took Dina by the hand and spun her around. " _I'll_ dance with you Dina," he offered pointedly. "Besides, we all know I'm the better dancer anyway. I'm saving you half a dozen bruises." As he teased his brother, he pulled Dina into a swing.

"I am not _that_ bad," Johnathan argued. He really wasn't bad at all, but he definitely didn't have the grace or ease that his twin had.

Dina smiled playfully over Cameron's shoulder. "I dunno, Johnny, you've stepped on your fair share of toes," she giggled.

"You **are** pretty terrible, Johnathan," Natalie teased from across the room where Jordan was trying to teach her how to dance. It mostly ended up being Natalie stumbling around and Jordan keeping her from tripping over the boxes or loose ribbons and ornaments, though neither of them seemed to mind. They actually looked like they were having a lot of fun.

"Okay, you know what-" Johnathan marched over to his brother and girlfriend and deftly maneuvered the latter away from the former, pulling Dina into his arms and falling in step with the music. Again, he wasn't as smooth as Cameron, but he was no slouch on the dance floor, no matter what his family had to say about his dancing skills. The most surprising of all, though, was when Johnathan pulled her close and sang a few bars in Dina's ear. "Santa won't you bring me the one I really need, won't you please bring my baby to me?" Dina pulled away with a look of pleasant surprise. Johnathan shrugged and smiled fondly at her. "What can I say? You were right. It's hard not to get into the holiday spirit," he told her quietly. "Especially with this Fah-hoo fores-ing goofs around," he added with a low chuckle.

Dina gave him that smile that made him a little weak at the knees just before pulling him in for a kiss. They broke apart when Natalie and Jordan started making retching noises. "Get a room, you two," Jordan demanded.

"Now _there's_ an idea-"

"Oh, Johnny, stop it," Dina chuckled.

"Yeah, really Johnny. Stop it," Cameron agreed, looking much more serious. "No one needs to know about that sort of thing."

Johnathan smirked. "I'm sorry, _Cammy_ , I forgot there was a child present."

"You aren't even an hour older than me," Cam groused.

"And yet apparently that hour makes all the difference."

"Neither of you are acting very grown up right now," Natalie pointed out.

"Kid's got a point," Jordan agreed, pointing to Natalie as she spoke.

Natalie pouted a little as she turned to him. "You're not _that_ much older than me."

Jordan winked at her and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Fly."

" _Jordaaan_ ," she whined as she tried to dodge his hand.

" _Naaataliiieee_ ," he whined back.

Dina clapped her hands to get their attention. "Alright, both of you, that's enough of that. Don't make me put you both in a corner." The youngest members of their little family tried to argue it was the other's fault, but Dina silenced them with a mere raise of her hands. "Ah-ah. Enough, both of you. Pick a side of the room and separate." She waited to make sure they actually did as they were told before turning to Johnathan. "As for you. . . we can discuss that matter of getting a room a little later, once the decorating's done," she told him in a low voice.

"Now that's what I call motivation."

"Hey! Turtle doves!" Cameron's yell barely gave them warning before he was chucking stuffed snowman at them. "Stop making goo-goo eyes at each other and help."

* * *

 _I just really felt like doing something cute and fluffy and, yes, Christmas-y. Hope you all enjoyed it!_

 _I'll be doing the episode 11 chapter soon, so stay tuned for that!_


	20. Secrets and Spies

_HERE is the long-awaited (by some of you) chapter based on episode 11, "Loading Up." Shall we see how Cameron handles the assassin with a little sister in the mix?_

* * *

"Dina, you know I love you, right?"

Dina looked at Natalie with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. "Of course, darling. You know I love you, too."

Natalie nodded and smiled softly. "I do. So. . knowing that. . I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but. . ." She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Before Dina could ask her what she was getting at, Natalie blurted out, "You gotta _woman up,_ D."

Dina stared at her for a moment, eyes blinking several times and mouth working uselessly in that time. "I-. . Natalie, I-I'm not sure what you're-"

"Don't lie to me," she cut off softly. "I know. . Okay? I know. I've seen the way you and Mike are around each other. . Like the way you used to be with Johnny," she continued. Natalie saw the guilt in the woman's eyes and she shook her head. "Dina, no, that's not- _I'm glad_ that you're happy. You **deserve** to be happy. I just want you to be honest about it. . . with us. . _and_ with Johnny. Listen." She sighed. "You don't owe my brother anything. That's not it. But I know you, Dina. You will never let things with Mike move forward, **really** move forward, until you tell Johnny, because for whatever reason you feel guilty for moving on." She ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face, and sighed again. "Every time you and Cam talk about it, you just say _'what Johnathan did'_ , but you never actually say it. Why? . . Because you're afraid I can't handle it?" Natalie shook her head. "I **know** what he did." She hated it just as much as everyone else did, but she didn't understand why everyone was so afraid to say it out loud. " _Johnny cheated on you._ He slept with another woman," she said bluntly. "And it was awful, and stupid, and he's a real jackass for doing it. I love my brother more than anyone, but even I know that."

Dina frowned. "Is- Sorry, but is there a point to this, darling?"

"Yes," Natalie said emphatically. " _The point_ is that Johnny made his choice and you don't owe him a damn thing. . . Okay? So whatever guilt you feel that's been holding you back, you can let it go now. You need my permission, or anyone else's for that matter. . but you have it. Just be happy, Dina."

The older woman stared at the girl she'd known for so many years, and wondered when she'd grown up. "Oh, Nattie." Her eyes filled up with tears and she pulled Natalie into a hug. "Thank you, darling," Dina whispered. Natalie was right, of course; she _didn't_ need anyone's permission to be with Mike or anyone else she chose. It was still nice to have that approval, especially from Natalie. She'd always known that Cameron would be okay with her moving on, but Natalie. . . Natalie _idolized_ Johnathan, and Dina had honestly been afraid of how she would react if she started up a relationship with someone new. Having the girl's blessing was more of a relief than she could ever know. "Thank you." Natalie was right about something else: she had to come clean with Johnathan.

* * *

"You must be out of your damn mind," was Natalie's immediate response when her brother finished pitching his plan.

"Natalie-"

"No. _Absolutely not._ You're not playing bait for an **assassin** , Cam!" Natalie shouted over him as her brother tried to calm her down.

Cameron sighed. "We don't exactly have a lot of options here, Nat," he began.

"Why doesn't the FBI have one of **their people** do it?" she demanded. "Why are they having an _observer_ risk his life for something they won't even tell him about?" He opened his mouth to argue, but Natalie wasn't finished. "Seriously, Cam, why are you even involved in this? They wouldn't even _tell you_ what was stolen-"

"They **couldn't** tell me what was stolen," he interjected. "It was a matter of national security."

"You didn't care about that this morning," Natalie snapped back. "Let's not forget that Agent Daniels sent you to her office when they interrogated this psycho. They don't trust you to tell you what's even going on, but you're willing to risk your life for them?"

Cameron understood why his sister was upset, really, but she wasn't being reasonable. "I trust Kay."

* * *

"Cameron, stay in the car." Natalie meant it to sound more commanding, but it really came out as a child's desperate plea not to be left alone. "Cam, seriously," she tried again, when she saw the look in her brother's eye that said he was about to do something dangerously stupid. " _Kemeron_." Cam actually turned to look at her when her old accent resurfaced, something that only happened now when she was tired or upset; it was obvious to him that it was the latter this time. If the wide eyes and color-drained face weren't enough to tell him that, the way she clutched his arm in a last-ditch effort to keep him in the car would have done it.

"I'm sorry, Nat," he whispered before tearing his arm free and all but throwing himself out of the car.

Natalie felt like her heart stopped in that moment as flashbacks of last year bombarded her. The woman with two different colored eyes giving Johnny seductive looks, him hailing a cab for her and promising to be home tomorrow morning all while Natalie begged him to come home with her, the police, the trial, the months of depression and panic attacks that literally brought her to her knees.

"Natalie!" Mike's voice cut sharply through her panic and she found herself drawing in a sharp breath, though she couldn't tell if she'd been holding her breath or hyperventilating up till that point. She met his eyes and felt fatherly concern rolling off of her in waves. "It's gonna be okay," the kind FBI agent promised.

"You can't promise me that," Natalie whispered as she slid across the seat and dropped out of the FBI standard issue SUV. She ignored the way he called her name as she slammed the door and took her first few steps in the same direction as Cam. She didn't get much farther than that, though, as strong arms wrapped around her waist and held her there on the side of the road. "Mike, _let go,_ " she demanded with surprising calm despite the spike of panic that lanced through her at being detained.

There was a pause before he answered, and Natalie assumed he was shaking his head. "No can do, Nat." He almost sounded apologetic. "Cameron confronting an assassin is one thing, I'm not about to let you-"

"It's not on you to _let me_ do anything," Natalie snapped. "You're not my dad, Mike, and I'm not an FBI agent. I am _not_ your responsibility."

"You're right, but that doesn't mean I'm letting you go," he replied calmly. It was infuriating, really, when her brother's life was on the line. Agent Daniels', too, she remembered absently, though that was of far less importance to her. "Your brothers would never forgive me, not to mention the rest of the team."

Now he was just playing dirty. "I don't _care_ ," she shouted as she struggled against him. "I have to go, Mike! I **have** to go, he's my brother." And she couldn't lose another brother. She couldn't. It would kill her. When Mike's hold didn't loosen, Natalie decided to take matters into her own hands. Training her brothers drilled into her for years kicked in and Natalie soon found herself free; for good measure, she rammed an elbow back and drove it straight into his diaphragm. She didn't waste any time in looking over her shoulder to see what she was sure would be a look of shock on the agent's face as he was undoubtedly doubled over from her blow. Natalie took off running the moment he dropped his arms before he could recover and drag her back into the car. As she was approaching, she could just hear Cameron's voice. She was about to round the corner when-

A gun shot.

Natalie's feet stuttered as she ran and she nearly ate the pavement, but she was quickly able to recover. "Cameron," she gasped as she pushed forward. She made it around the corner and saw her brother lying on the ground. "Cameron!" Natalie screamed. She sprinted to his side and dropped next to him so hard and fast that she felt the fabric around her knees ripping and the concrete scraping against her skin.

Cameron's eyes, thank God, were open. He looked up at her with confusion. "N-Nat," he gasped. "The hell're you doin'here?" The question came out in one breath and was a bit garbled, but Natalie understood him fine. ". . should b'with Mike," he added weakly.

"Shhh, don't talk," Natalie ordered as tears stung her eyes.

"He's gonna be fine, Natalie," a voice told her. Natalie glanced up and saw Agent Daniels. Funny. She hadn't noticed the agent there before. "Look." The woman's head tipped forward and Natalie looked back down to see what she was trying to indicate: a bullet proof vest under Cameron's shirt.

It took her a moment to take it all in; Cameron being winded, not bleeding out, the bullet that was smooshed against Kevlar instead of buried deep somewhere inside her brother's chest. . . Natalie released a shaky breath and whispered, "Slava Bogu," as her head dropped with relief.

"Thought you. . gave up on the whole. . religion thing," Cameron wheezed. It _figured_ that of all the phrases in Russian he'd picked up, _that_ was one of them. Given his prone position on the sidewalk, he could still see her weak smile despite her head being bowed still.

"Yeah, well. . . I make exceptions when you survive your own idiocy," she replied with nowhere near the irritated heat she'd intended to put behind her words. "I thought I told you not to talk," she added pointedly. "Just. . focus on breathing right now, Cam." Natalie rested one trembling hand on his head and the other over the bullet that would have killed him. She frowned for a moment-relief giving way to confusion and curiosity-and met her brothers gaze. "Hang on. When did you even have time to put on a bullet proof vest?"

He certainly hadn't stopped to grab one when he bolted out of the SUV.

Cameron rolled his eyes and made a sound that was probably supposed to be a frustrated groan. "Y' _just said_ -"

"I had him put it on," Agent Daniels answered for him. When Natalie's confused gaze turned to her, the agent explained, "Before he played decoy. . I had him put on the vest. . just in case. . ." Just in case the sniper had gotten an early shot. Just in case that magical wall of Jordan's didn't actually stop the bullet. Natalie had no particular fondness for the FBI agent, but in that moment, she understood the woman plainly. Agent Daniels looked down at Cameron with a smile that was both exasperated and fond. "Guess he never thought to return it."

"Fit so nice. . ." Cameron joked thinly.

* * *

If Cameron thought Natalie had been hovering after the **faked** shooting, he hadn't seen anything yet.

Even with the Kevlar, his chest had a bruise so dark it looked more like a burn, and the paramedic had mentioned possible cracked bone aside from the deep bruising. Of course her boneheaded brother had reused going to the hospital to get anything checked out with a passionate insistence that he'd ice it and be fine. Well. Icing it was all well and good, but Natalie as determined to force some pain killers into him whether he liked it or not. She wasn't above using her own fear to manipulate him into taking care of himself either.

She was coming back with a bottle of water and the pill bottle when she heard Agent Daniels' voice and stopped just beyond the corner. She wasn't even sure why she stopped until-

". . .Johnathan already told me. Not your type."

What? When had they had _that_ conversation?

"Did he? . . Huh."

Was that- Was Cameron **disappointed?** Why? It wasn't like he was actually interested in Agent Daniels. . Was he? She shook her head, dismissing the thought as soon as it came. Cameron, who wore his heart on his sleeve, would have told her if he had feelings for the FBI agent. Natalie was sure of it.

She risked a peak around the corner and caught the look that passed between her brother and Agent Daniels when she mentioned wanting to move forward and felt a strange tightness in her chest that she didn't have time to contemplate. The door opened and Dina entered the room, greeting Mike, and Natalie took that opportunity to walk in herself.

None of them were prepared for what he had to say. What shocked Natalie even more though-and what no one else seemed to notice-was the way Dina immediately started going through her coat pockets, all the while watching Cameron and the two agents to make sure _they_ weren't watching _her_. . . which meant she never caught Natalie's eyes on her. Natalie's attention was divided between wondering why Dina would have possibly taken Mike's card (because what else could she be looking for at a time like this) and the conversation of the other three, but was quickly pulled forcefully toward the latter when Mike mentioned the Lynx diamond.

 _Oh Dina,_ Natalie thought with dread. _What have you done?_

* * *

 _I **really did** plan to post this sooner, but life happened. And also I had a hard time working Natalie into this one for some reason? I debated multiple times whether or not to skip this episode entirely and just move on, but decided to ultimately keep to my original plan of writing a chapter on each episode._


	21. The Beginning of The End

"Dina took Mike's badge for you, didn't she?" Cameron demanded before the door was even closed behind him. In that moment, he didn't much care about keeping it a secret; John had used Dina and gotten Mike in some seriously hot water and Cameron was angry at the whole situation.

"FBI know?" He supposed he should have been grateful that his brother did him the courtesy of not lying to his face, but the cavalier attitude only angered him more.

"No-"

"Natalie?" Johnathan asked, with more emotion in his voice this time.

Cameron hesitated before answering and that pause brought him his brother's full attention; good. "I didn't tell her anything. I'm sure Dina didn't either. . . but she's smart, John, you know that. She'll figure it out eventually."

Johnathan nodded but didn't comment. "M.W. had a guard on the inside. . and I played. . right into her hands. _Again_ ," he said with a weary disappointment. Cameron felt slightly mollified seeing his brother was already beating himself up about what had happened. Only slightly. He had a strong feeling his twin was more upset about being played than any trouble he might have caused for anyone else. "And Dina got hurt 'cause of it. _Again_." Maybe Johnathan felt some guilt after all. "Maybe we just get what we deserve."

"No," Cameron rejected that theory immediately. "Don't go there. We don't- _You don't_ deserve this, Johnny." None of them deserved what M.W. had done to them, the havoc she'd wreaked on their lives. "And I will do whatever it takes to get her. You know that."

He wasn't surprised by his brother's dismissal of his promises, and he couldn't help trying to lighten the suddenly dark and heavy mood with a dash of patented Cameron Black humor and charm, though even that was denied.

"I didn't exist," Johnny reminded him. "There's no life out there for me, Dina was the last of it. And now she's gone, too."

Cameron felt a stab of. . something, hearing the despair behind those words, and found himself forcing a smile and trying for humor one last time. "Well now who's recycling old material?" A moment's hesitation, then, "Besides, you know that's not true. There's Gunter and Jordan, and me, of course. . And let's not forget the president of the Johnathan Black fan club, our **very devoted** little sister." Part humor, part sincerity. "It's gonna be different, Johnny." He was all sincerity, now. "You just have to trust me."

* * *

"We're helping the FBI stop a bank heist? But you hate banks."

"Wh-? No I don't," Cameron replied defensively.

Natalie shot him a look that clearly asked if he was being serious. "Yeah. You do. My whole life, you never went into a bank."

"That's not true-"

"Johnny always went in, _pretending_ to be you. Remember. I can always tell who's who." Cameron didn't reply to that, instead choosing to go back to adding notes to the bank blueprints Agent Daniels had provided for him. It didn't matter, though; they both knew Natalie was right. She'd always known her brother hated going into banks but she'd never known **why**. She'd also never been able to figure out why, unlike with his fear of small spaces, Sebastian had never tried to force Cameron to get over it. "Fine. Keep your denial," Natalie huffed. "You have to admit, though. . . Stopping a bank heist? Kinda sexy."

Cameron looked up long enough to make a face at his sister then returned his eyes to the blueprint. ". .been spending too much time with Jordan," he muttered with a shake of his head.

* * *

"Seven hundred-?" Cameron raised his voice. "Gunter, wouldn't that kill her?"

Gunter turned slightly on the ladder as he grunted noncommittally and answered, "Probably."

" _Good_ ," Natalie muttered next to Cameron.

"Don't see the problem," Gunter added.

"We need her alive to exonerate Johnathan," Cameron reminded them both. Natalie huffed with petulant and reluctant acceptance of this fact while Gunter made the offer to lower it a measly fifty volts. She snickered while he let out a soft, put upon sigh. "Would yo- Make sure he doesn't kill her," he begged Jordan wearily.

"No, relax, I got it," Jordan responded immediately before bounding down the steps to have a chat with Gunter. Agent Daniels beckoned Cam over and Natalie immediately made the decision to join Jordan and Gunter down by the entrance; after her brother nearly died to protect her, she had even _less_ warm feelings for the FBI agent-and there hadn't been many to begin with. Besides, she was much more interested in seeing exactly how the wiring and mechanism worked to locked the door and send the current through the handle.

* * *

Finding out Cam was down in the vault with the safety deposit boxes sent a shudder of worry and panic through her; he'd nearly died in one before, and the FBI had just gone and sent him back into one?

True, there was little chance of this one closing on him and him nearly suffocating to death, but M.W. had proven to have a vast, extended reach of influence and Natalie didn't trust that she wouldn't find a way to try to kill her brother again. Despite Jordan's reassurance of "He's fine. Kay's down there with him," which _really_ wasn't reassuring at all, considering Natalie didn't trust the agent either, she quickly made her way down to the vault. She relaxed a little when she saw the door wide open with Agent Daniels right be the exit, and relaxed a little more when she saw Cameron perfectly calm and intent on his work as he picked the combination lock.

She startled when Dina came up behind her then smiled sheepishly when she saw who it was. "Hey. . I was just-" Natalie gestured in Cameron's direction. "Watching. You know. ."

Dina nodded and took one step towards the vault then stopped. "I was just gonna have a chat with Kay, but- You alright, darling? You seem-"

"No, _yeah_ ," Natalie said quickly. "I'm fine. I'm good. Go ahead, talk with Agent Daniels." Dina hesitated until Natalie smiled and waved her on. She moved silently closer when she heard Dina mention Mike.

"It's just a formality, though, right? I mean, we all know that he didn't steal the diamond." Natalie wondered if Agent Daniels could hear how forced Dina's laugh was, and if Dina even realized it herself.

"FBI agents have to be beyond reproach. At _best_ , they cite him for failure to protect his property. At worst, they fire him and he never works in law enforcement again." Agent Daniels' quick dismissal of Dina's totally hypothetical question of what would happen if someone came forward left a pit in Natalie's stomach. "Just stealing a badge is fifteen years."

 _Dina. . What have you gotten yourself into?_ None of them had too much time to worry about it, as it turned out, because Cameron spoke up moments after saying something was wrong. Then the rumbling started. Natalie made her way into the vault, sliding past Dina and Agent Daniels, and stepped up to Cameron's side; if something went wrong, she wanted to be right next to him this time. She was silent, though as Cam continued to work. She was there to be supportive (and if necessary, protective), not to be a distraction. Cam got the door open and they were met with a long tunnel where the box should have been. Her brother bolted from the room and Natalie was hot on his trail.

"Cam!"

"What the hell was that?" Gunter demanded.

"Drilled through the basement, pulled one of the boxes straight out of the wall," Cameron replied only slightly breathless. Seemed he'd been working out since getting lectured by Gunter for being out of shape after his embarrassing seven minute escape. Her brother didn't stop to talk, though. Natalie tried to follow, but Jordan caught her arm.

Before she could protest, or do more than pull her arm away, Jordan was calling Cam back. "There's an entrance to the building's basement two hundred feet down."

Cam seemed to ignore the fact Jordan offered as he turned towards the bank entrance again. Natalie caught the way his whole posture shifted, bristling with tension, and moved down a couple of steps to see out the door and saw it-or rather saw **her**. "It's her," she breathed, the words coming out quieter than a whisper.

"She's there. She's right there!"

Natalie was almost right behind him, except Jordan caught her arm again with a much firmer grip than a minute before. "Wa- Cam, it's live! **IT'S LIVE!** " Jordan shouted. Cameron either didn't hear, or didn't register the words of warning. Either way he ended up grabbing onto the bar across the door and getting the same shock that had been intended for M.W.

Natalie screamed as sparks rained down on him and tried to pull free of the restraining hand so she could get to her brother, but Jordan only wrapped his other arm around her waist and hefted her up the two steps she'd made it down. She was about to scream some choice words in Russian when the security guard rammed into Cameron like a damn linebacker and slammed into the wall. Everyone seemed to scream his name at once when he bounced off the marble and fell to the floor. While Kay and Gunter rushed forward, Natalie felt like her legs would give out and suddenly leaned heavily against Jordan. "I got you," he said with a rare gentleness in his tone. "I got you, it's okay." His arms tightened around her when her knees started shaking.

 _I can't lose him. I **can't** lose him,_ she thought.

"You won't," Jordan assured her. Well. She _thought_ it was a thought. She'd meant it to be. But apparently she was whispering it to herself over and over like a magic charm or a prayer. "Hey, hey. Nat. Look at me," Jordan demanded as he gave her a light shake. He waited until she obeyed, staring at him with wide eyes, before continuing. "Gunter lowered the voltage, remember? You _watched him_ do it. It wasn't enough to kill that skinny psycho, and it definitely wasn't enough to kill a grown man." Jordan paused, for what reason, Natalie wasn't sure and didn't care enough to try to figure out in that moment. "Cam's gonna be fine." Jordan looked down at the group crouched around Cameron. "Gunter? Kay? How's our boy?"

Kay was the one to answer. "I called an ambulance just to be safe, but he's breathing fine and he's still conscious. . He's gonna be okay." The last part she addressed directly to Natalie, whose legs promptly gave out as soon as she heard the news.

Rather than trying to hold her up, Jordan sank down to the floor wit her and gave her a controlled descent instead of the otherwise painful drop she would have experienced had he not been holding her up. "Hear that?" he asked softly, still with that gentle tone. "He's gonna be okay. So _take a breath_ , Fly."

That got Natalie attention, and even earned him a weak, watery sort of smile. "We're back to Fly?"

Jordan shrugged. "Cam's not dying, so _yeah_. We're back to Fly."

She could live with that.

* * *

 _This really only covers the first fifteen-ish minutes of episode 12, but it felt like a good place to end the chapter. Just like with the other two-parter storyline, there will be multiple chapters covering this! I'm really excited to write them all, too, because boy-oh-boy have I spent a lot of time thinking about Natalie's confrontation with M.W. and her reaction to her being put in wit-sec instead of admitting Johnathan's innocence and going to prison. Not to mention how she plays into the forced switched at the very end._

 _If you like this story, be sure to leave a review! I love reading them, and it often motivates me to write more, sooner._


	22. Sibling Code and Conduct

_Forgot to say this in the note of the last chapter; I almost had Nat get shocked with Cameron, but it didn't quite make sense for what I wanted to do with her later. Besides it felt more fitting to have her go into this state of shock and sort of dissociate for a hot minute in light of everything they've all been through._

* * *

By the time the paramedics showed up, Natalie had mostly pulled herself together. It was enough that she was able to insist on riding in the ambulance with her brother and give anyone that tried to argue with her a cold glare that she'd inherited from her father and made one paramedic take a step back in shock. She climbed into the ambulance and sat by the stretcher holding her brother, clutching his hand, and talking quietly to him the whole drive. He didn't seem to catch most of what she was saying, but he did squeeze her hand a few times and his head rolled back to her on the pillow once the paramedics were done checking him out. Natalie would take what she could get.

Cameron grew more and more responsive at the hospital as various personnel rotated through checking vitals and ordering tests. They were all kind enough to let her stay by Cameron's side for most things, and she was at least allowed to stay in the room when she had to step aside. One of the nurses insisted on checking Natalie out, though she insisted she was completely fine. She overheard her and another nurse talking about shock, which Natalie thought was ridiculous. . though she _did_ still feel a bit weak on her feet.

"How is he?"

Natalie jumped at the sudden voice behind her and nearly tripped as she spun around to see Agent Daniels and the team in the doorway. "He's, uh-"

"I'm fine," Cameron answered. He looked at the doctor with a charming smile. "Doc, you mind telling my friends I'm fine so they stop looking at me like I'm at Death's door?"

"It could have been worse," the doctor responded. "But I'd hardly call you fine. You need to give your body time to rest. The voltage and amperage weren't enough to kill you, but there are still going to be some side effects after a shock like that. . ."

She kept talking, but Natalie checked out after that. There had been too many close calls with her brother's life lately and each other piled on top of the other, making it all worse when the next incident came around. She wasn't sure how much more of the constant worry that her brother wouldn't survive the next case she could take. It didn't help that the brother she usually leaned on was locked up when she needed him the most. Natalie looked up and found all eyes on her with varying levels of concern. She blinked owlishly at them, trying to figure out what she'd missed. Mouths were moving and words were coming out, but it all sort of sounded like the grownups on the Peanuts cartoons; none of it really made sense to her. It was almost like an out of body experience. She was there. . but she wasn't at the same time. It was strange, but not exactly unpleasant. The unsettling part was the way everyone was staring at her expectantly like they were waiting for her to say something.

Were they?

"I'm fine," Natalie said hollowly; it took her a moment to find her voice and it didn't quite sound like her own once she did.

"Natalie." There was a forced calm in Cameron's voice that she didn't understand. Why was he looking at her like that? "Guys, you think you could take her home?"

"What? No. I'm fine. I- I wanna stay with you. . ."

Cameron got off the bed and took the few steps to stand in front of her so he could put his hands on her shoulders. "Nat. It's okay. Go home, get some rest. I'm just gonna head to the office with Kay and take care of a few things, then I'll be back. . Okay?"

Natalie held onto his arms and frowned. No, it really wasn't, but she couldn't exactly trail after him at the FBI like a sad puppy. . . "You'll be home soon?" she asked in a small voice.

"I promise. And you can call me if you need to, if you get worried." She nodded after a moment and Cameron smiled warmly at her. He pulled her into his chest for a hug and Natalie returned it with her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. "See you at home," Cam promised.

* * *

"Dad locked you in a box. . He denied my existence. . He only took Natalie in because he thought she'd be another little magician prodigy that could boost his career, and when that didn't happen, he ignored her. . . Did you think the whole time he was secretly a good guy? He _wasn't_ , Cam. But you already knew that."

Cameron nodded slowly with a pained expression.

Part of Johnny felt guilty for shattering his brother's idyllic version of their father that he'd built up in his head along with optimistic world view, but the other part was relieved that it had finally happened; whether he liked it or not, Johnny had always known it would have to happen eventually. And at least he was the one to do it. He knew how far too go before easing up and letting Cameron come to terms with the rest on his own. He reached out and clapped his brother on the shoulder before walking back to the table and settling on its edge.

"What'd Nat have to say about all of this?"

Cameron didn't answer at first, but that was fine; Johnathan could wait him out. "She, uh. . She didn't. I didn't tell her, yet. . ." He turned around slowly to face his brother but didn't meet his eyes just yet. "Figured it could wait until I got home. You know? There's been a lot of boat rocking lately, and I just. . It's not exactly you tell someone over the phone."

"I guess you're right," Johnathan agreed slowly. But Natalie wasn't the one who idolized their father; if anything, she'd seemed **relieved** when he died. He had been, until Cameron asked him to continue being the secret twin. "You gonna be okay, Cam?"

Another slow nod and Cam finally met his eyes with a tight smile. "Yeah. . Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you later, Johnny."

* * *

"You can't hurt Natalie," Johnathan clarified.

"She's off-limits," the Mystery Woman agreed easily. "I will have make sure she stays out of my way, of course. As long as she doesn't fight me, I won't have to take. . forceful measures."

Johnathan thought about that for a moment. "Show her the coin. It doesn't quite carry the same weight for her as it does for Cam, but Nat knows that I wouldn't give up it lightly."

M.W. smiled in a strange way that was partly coy and partly mischievous. "And if that's not enough?"

"Then I'll tell you something she'll know would only come from me."

* * *

"Where is the pen?" M.W. demanded. "Unless you want me to wait for one of your little friends to come back? Maybe one of them knows." Cameron took a sip from his mug, but M.W. wasn't done with her threats. "Or maybe. . I should just go upstairs and pay your baby sister a visit-?"

"Give her the damn pen," Johnathan shouted.

"Mmm! Alright. . Gah," Cameron groaned and adjusted the earpiece. He pushed himself up and retrieved the pen for his hiding place.

"Now. You've got what you wanted. Have fun treasure hunting. Please let me know where you and Johnny are registered so I can buy you something nice. And I'll be sure to tell Natalie that you said 'hello'."

"We're not done with you yet."

"I _am_ done with me. So. . Goodnight." But of course he couldn't get off that easily. When the Mystery Woman ordered him to open the trunk, he was only too happy to disappoint her. "You got the wrong twin. Dad only taught Johnny how to open it, and made him swear not to tell me, so. . Just another. . stellar bit of parenting by Sebastian Black."

"You said you didn't **care** ," Johnathan reminded him.

"Of course I cared." It had been the one trick their dad had never taught him, and it had always made him felt like he'd failed the man somehow, like he hadn't been worthy enough of the secret. Of course when Johnny finally told him the secret, he was. . underwhelmed.

Until M.W. opened up a secret entrance to a creepy staircase.

* * *

Natalie made it downstairs just as Cameron got the map, though she stayed hidden. M.W. had a gun, and though she wanted to help her brother, she also wasn't about to rush in and get herself shot. So she waited. She snuck a peak when she heard the automaton move and saw M.W. lose her gun; she was relieved to see Cameron in one piece, and even more relieved to hear him explain how Johnny had actually been working with him the entire time and **not** with the creepy-eyed, psychopathic bitch.

When she heard Cameron duck out of the room, she stepped out from behind the bookcase. "How does it feel to lose?" she asked with a smirk.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that I've lost just yet," M.W. replied as she turned around slowly in her little square. "Game's not over until the handcuffs are on. Speaking of. . . Took you a little longer to get out of those than I expected. Or were you just waiting this whole time?"

Natalie held up the slightly bloodied handcuffs with one finger. "Yeah, well, Dad didn't teach me much about escape artistry after he realized I was a terrible performer. You're right, though, I waited for Cam to run. He would never leave me alone with you. But this way I can make sure you don't slip through the cracks again."

"You sure about that?" The Mystery Woman tossed the coin-Johnny's coin-onto a tile across the room and dove for her gun. Natalie, not around for the whole explanation of how the tiles worked, rushed forward to stop her as she dove for her gun. There was a stabbing pain in her side but that was soon overshadowed by the pain in her shoulder. She didn't realize until M.W. rolled her off onto the floor that she'd been shot. It took her a moment more to notice the creepy automaton wasn't throwing knives anymore. Natalie wondered, through the haze of pain, if M.W. had actually intended to shoot her, or if Natalie had just gotten in the way as she took aim.

* * *

Cameron stooped down to reclaim the earpiece M.W. had pulled out and thrown down on the tracks. "We got her, Johnny." As the team chuckled behind him, and Kay tightened the handcuffs, M.W. smirked at him.

"I wouldn't do a victory dance just yet," she warned. "I am sorry, Johnathan. . . I know I promised not to hurt your sister, but that was only if she stayed out of the way."

"Wait, what?" the brothers asked in unison.

"Johnny, what's she-?"

"Natalie showed up downstairs right after you left," Johnathan cut Cameron off. "I couldn't hear what she was saying. . I thought she shot the automaton."

She shrugged with her good shoulder. "I did. . I just might've had to go through Natalie to do it."

"Oh God," Cameron breathed. He pushed past Kay and M.W. and sprinted back the way he'd just come. "Natalie?! Nat!" He heard footsteps behind him, voices shouting, but he didn't pay attention to any of it. He had to get to his sister. He stumbled through the door and found his baby sister, still in her pajamas, lying in a pool of her own blood. "Natalie!"

* * *

 _I thought about including M.W. handcuffing Natalie before waking up Cameron, and the conversation between them and Johnathan, but I decided to include that next chapter in a flashback sorta way-_

 _As for Natalie's fate. . Guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find that out as well :D_


	23. Eye of the Hurricane

_Natalie wasn't quite awake when she felt someone sit down on her bed next to her. "Ngh- 's early. . go 'way," she mumbled sleepily as she weakly pushed at the person next to her. She'd never been a fan of rising early-had often complained about Cameron's cheery disposition when first waking up-and **never** appreciated being woken up before she was good and ready._

 _"Not just yet."_

 _That voice. Natalie's eyes snapped open and she sat up quickly; she nearly slammed into M.W. in the process. "You-"_

 _"Careful," the Mystery Woman said quietly. "Wouldn't wanna wake up big brother, would you?" That's exactly what Natalie wanted to do. But she glanced down and saw the gun casually pointed at her and thought better of it. "I don't want to hurt you, Natalie. I never have. And I won't hurt you now as long as you behave."_

 _"What do you want?" Natalie as proud of the way she managed not to let her voice shake._

 _"From you? Nothing. From Cameron . . ? Well, that's not really your concern. All you need to know is that I have Johnny's full support." Before Natalie could do more than frown in total disbelief, M.W. held up a coin-Johnny's coin._

 _"How-?"_

 _"He gave it to me. Or-loaned it, more accurately. So that I could show it to you and Cam, so you'd know that I'm telling you the truth. He figured it might not be enough to convince you, though, so he also told me something that only he could possibly know-something that only the two of you share."_

 _Natalie eyed M.W. skeptically. "What's that?"_

 _"Before he and Cameron pulled off the Time Square trick, before everything in your lie changed forever, the two of you talked about taking a trip together, just the two of you. . Somewhere no one knew the name Cameron Black." The Mystery Woman smiled when Natalie's eyes grew twice their size. "See? But if you still don't believe me-" M.W. produced an earpiece from her pocket and handed it to Natalie. "Ask him yourself."_

 _Natalie hesitated before slipping it into her ear. "Johnny?"_

 _"I know how crazy this all seems, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that, ptichka?"_

 _"I always trust you."_

 _"Okay." She could hear the smile in his voice. "Then trust me. . And do what she says. She won't hurt you."_

 _"As long as she doesn't fight back or get in my way," M.W. clarified. She pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Now. How 'bout you be a good girl and slip these on? Just so there aren't any heroics tonight?"_

* * *

Natalie was weakly pressing her hand against her injured shoulder stop the bleeding and her eyes were only half-open when Cameron fell to his knees at her side. He smiled weakly for her when she lazily rolled her head in his direction. "Hey, baby girl. Everything's gonna be fine, alright? Big brother's got everything under control."

"Cam, what's going on? How bad is it?"

"It's-" He was torn between telling his brother the truth and comforting his sister. "It could be worse."

"Yeah. . coul' be dead," Natalie mumbled the joke.

"Not funny, Nat," Cameron chided even as the corner of his mouth turned up. He shucked off his jacket-ignoring the twinge of pain in his shoulder-and wadded it up. He gently moved his sister's hand out of the way so he could press the bundled jacket to the hole in her shoulder. "This is gonna suck," he warned just before pressing down hard. He cringed at the cry of pain that came out of her, but didn't let up. "I know, I know, but I gotta do it."

Natalie nodded jerkily while fresh tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. By then the team had made it to the room and were hovering around them. "I've got 9-1-1 on the way," Dina told them. "I'll go meet them upstairs." Cameron nodded but didn't respond, his attention only on his sister.

Jordan knelt by Natalie's side across from Cameron. "Cam." The tone in his voice had Cameron snapping his head up. "Looks like she got hit with more than just a bullet." Cameron followed Jordan's gaze and saw the knife sticking out of his sister's side.

"Di'nt know. . floor was. . rigged," Natalie told them through gritted teeth. "She dove for the gun-"

"Shhh." Cameron moved one hand to stroke her hair for a moment. "Don't talk right now. You can tell us later. Okay?" She nodded and he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. A quick glance and he saw Jordan's hand in hers. Huh.

"Cameron." Gunter's raspy voice along with the firm hand on his back made him turn to look at the old stunt designer. "We should probably get 'er upstairs. Don' think a stretcher'll be able to make it down 'ere." Cam moved to pick his sister up but Gunter's hand moved to his shoulder and squeezed a bit. "Electrocuted, drunk and now shot? An' you think you can carry 'er up those stairs? I think not, son. Move aside. I've got 'er." Reluctantly, Cameron shifted over and let the older man scoop her up. Natalie whimpered and Gunter shushed her gently. "I've got ya, sweetheart. I've got ya."

For some reason, Cameron didn't move to join them. Jordan paused by the doorway to look back at him. "Cam? You good, man?"

"Yeah, I, uh. . I just need a minute." Jordan nodded then disappeared behind the wall as he followed after Gunter and Natalie. "John. . Still there?"

"Of course. How bad is it?" He knew Johnny needed an answer, and now that Natalie was out of the room, he could give him one. Cameron sighed as he settled on the floor next to the puddle of his little sister's blood. ". . . Bad, John. It's bad."

* * *

The next day, Kay greeted him as he stepped out of the elevator and walked onto the floor of the FBI offices. "How's your sister?" she asked immediately.

"Alive," he answered roughly as he walked. Kay's look of concerned brought him to a stop with a heavy sigh. "Cuts on her wrist and a dislocated thumb from getting out of the handcuffs M.W. apparently used on her to keep her in her room, along with about ten stitches in her side from the knife and dozens more in her shoulder after surgery. Luckily they've got her on the good stuff, so she'll be out of it for a while, won't feel too much pain."

Kay nodded with a look of sympathy. "Were you able to talk to her?"

He shook his head and started walking again. "Not much. Like I said, she's out of it. . . Mostly she just asked for Johnny. ." He was the one she always asked for when she was hurt or sick or scared. "Best I could do was call him and let them talk on the phone for a bit. . She fell asleep." Cam smiled a bit at that. "The team's on rotation now at the hospital till I can be with her."

"You could have stayed with her, Cam. I've got this."

"No. No, I have to be here, Kay. For John _and_ for Natalie. After everything she's done to my family, I wanna make sure she pays, for all of it."

* * *

M.W. removed her contact lens and looked at him expectantly. Johnathan sat forward and looked at her closely. .

"Nope. Still nothing." He could see the shock and disappointment in her eyes, and didn't let it show how much he enjoyed it. "Even if I did remember you. . Even if we had this connection back when we were kids. . Do you really think I'd want anything to do with you now? Forget about framing me for murder; you _shot_ _my sister._ "

M.W. sat back in her chair and shrugged. "She got in my way. If it makes any difference, I wasn't aiming for her. I wanted to shoot the automaton before it could throw any more of its little knives, but she got on top of me. . I mean, I guess I could have just let her get stabbed _again_ , but that didn't seem like the best option."

Johnathan's expression remained stony. "Right, because shooting her was so much better," he deadpanned.

"It was a clean shot, through-and-through. I'm sure Cameron told you I didn't hit anything too important. The gunshot she could survive, but she wouldn't have been so lucky if she'd been turned into a human pincushion."

He gave her a dry, humorless smirk. "So, what you're saying is I should be thanking you." His tone dripped with sarcasm, now.

The Mystery Woman shrugged and tried to look innocent; it didn't work. "I'm not saying _that_. . Though I wouldn't mind hearing a thank you." She moved her hands in a vague gesture, as much as she could with the handcuffs. "I never wanted to hurt Natalie, but she got in the way. I told you both I couldn't be held responsible for what happened if she did. I have to say, though. . Tackling a known murderer and wrestling her for a gun? That's bold." She actually sounded impressed. "I'm guessing little Nattie got that from you-"

"Don't-"

"-because she certainly didn't get it from Cameron. I mean, he never even tried to fight me-"

"That's enough!" Johnathan slammed his hands on the table to punctuate his yell. "You don't get to talk about them like that. Especially Natalie." Before she could say another word, he left the room. He needed time to collect himself before she could provoke him any further.

* * *

As Johnathan, Gunter and Jordan walked back to the car, heading back to the Archive to regroup, Johnathan stopped. "There's a pit stop we need to make first."

The other two men exchanged a look before Jordan spoke up. "Dude. Kay say we needed to get back, like, ASAP. We don't wanna push our luck with the agent who's trying to help us get your out for good, Johnny."

Johnathan rolled his eyes behind his shades. "Yeah, I get that, and that's great and all but you two seem to be forgetting that while everyone's working on this deception, Natalie's alone in a hospital. I'm surprised we haven't gotten a call about her fighting nurses."

"Well, they do have her pretty drugged up," Jordan reminded him.

"She was pretty out of it, last I saw her," Gunter agreed. He would know, too, being the last one to be with her before this whole mess started.

Of course, none of this did anything to soothe the anxious need to check up on his sister. "Guys. Come on. Ten minutes, tops, that's all I'm asking for." Johnathan wanted a great deal more than that, but he knew that if they pulled this off, he'd have all the time in the world with his sister. For now, the ten minutes would have to do. It didn't take much more than a quiet 'please' to push them over the edge of agreement. Soon Johnathan was at the door of Natalie's hospital room.

The nurse who was just leaving after checking up on her told him that she was still groggy and likely wouldn't track the conversation very well. That didn't matter to him. All that mattered was seeing her, and more importantly, her seeing him.

Natalie was pulling at her sling when he walked in and he quickly moved in to catch her hand when he realized she was trying to pull it _off_. "Ah ah ah. You leave that alone," he told her sternly. "They didn't put that on you just for the fun of it."

That got him a tired eye roll. "Comin' from the guy who r'fused t'go to the hosp'tal after gettin' shot," she mumbled. "Bull'tproof vest b'damned."

Johnathan smiled a little and leaned in. "Wrong brother, ptichka."

Natalie frowned, then her eyes went wide with realization. She glanced over to the door before whispering, "Did you break out, Johnny?"

He grinned and shook his head. "No. We caught M.W, remember? That means as soon as this is over, I'm out for good. They just had to get me out a little early to help tie up a few loose ends."

Her confusion was evident, but she nodded slowly, even though Johnathan was pretty sure she hadn't processed all of that. "Oh."

"I have to get back soon, but I wanted to check on you first. How're you feeling?"

"My head's all. . . fuzzy. And I can't really. . move my arm." Natalie weakly wiggled the fingers of the hand sticking out of her sling. "Kinda feel floaty."

Johnathan nodded and lightly held her hand. "Well, you enjoy that while it lasts, because you're gonna feel it plenty once you get off the IV. Trust me." He'd never been shot before, but he and Cameron had certainly had their fair share of terrible injuries. More than their fair share, really.

"Mmmhm," Natalie hummed. "Johnny. ."

"Yeah, ptichka." Her slim fingers curled around his and he felt something inside him relax for the first time since he'd been arrested. He had a brief flashback to a much smaller Natalie lying in bed sick and half-asleep, her little fingers curling around two of his because it was all they could wrap around.

She blinked slowly then smiled tiredly. ". . I forgot."

"That's okay," he told her quietly. He reached up with his free hand to brush through her dark hair a few times. "Why don't you get some rest, see if it comes back to your later? I'll come back with Cam to pick you up tonight."

Her eyes were already drooping shut before she responded with a sleepy, "'kay."

Always so easy. He almost laughed at the thought of what Cameron would say to that. It was ironic that between the two of them, Cameron had always been more of the 'fun parent', so much more lenient with her, and yet he'd never quite connected with Natalie the way Johnathan had. It was fine with him, though. He liked being the favorite brother. Johnathan leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Uvidimsya skoro, ptichka," he whispered. See you soon. One more deception. That was all that stood between him and being with his family again.

* * *

 _This was more of a Natalie-centric chapter, but it felt necessary. I should have this last episode wrapped up in the next chapter-MAYBE two. After that. . I get to REALLY play, since Deception got cancelled._


End file.
